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Abyzz is a band from Jena area, the released a demo (Schattenspieler 1997), two EPs (Ominous Silence 2000, Reminder 2006) and even two full-length albums - Terror Mundi (2002) and Warmasutra (2004). After taking a longer break the band is back with their 3rd full-length album Empusa in 2010 - and it's a DIY release. The dark cover artwork gives an idea about the musical direction of Abyzz. They present heavy mid-tempo death metal with a dash black metal, a little bit thrash and doom and some Gothic references. And the fivesome wrapped it up in a good production. The grinding riffs and the mean growls ennoble the heaviness, and even if most songs are quite simple and straight forward, the album is offering varying sounds. Every song shows another facet of darkness as well as their influences - here a reminiscences to Disbelief, than early Paradise Lost, or slow Edge Of Sanity / Hypocrisy and even some references to Six Feet Under and Bolt Thrower. Even if Abyzz give cross references, they add something unique as well as technical finesse. The guitar leads are memorable and complex at a time. Technically precise is combined with fascination for details - without asking the listener for too much. This scheme works well, only towards the end some speed changes would have been welcome. They only explode at the last track which is called Reborn Again and a few more songs like this one would have done Empusa good. But at the end of the day it's an intensive doom death metal album which might need some outburst of fury, but everybody who likes death metal dark and doomy will love it!
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