ATONEMENT IS NIGH

"Atonement Is Nigh" is an EP release (and the first release) by Swedish progressive death metal act An Abstract Illusion. The EP was independently released in August 2014. An Abstract Illusion formed in 2007 and during their formative years featured several members of Exilion (who released their debut full-length studio album "Red Stained Snow" in September 2014). On this EP only keyboard player Robert Stenvall has any connection to Exilion though.

Stylistically the three tracks on the 31:49 minutes long EP are in an atmospheric/progressive death metal style which features both growling vocals and clean male vocals. Keyboards play a central role in the soundscape but the music also features heavy riffs and and harsher parts. It´s a relatively polished and clear sounding release though, which to my ears makes it more progressive metal than death metal.

"Atonement Is Nigh" is quite the ambitious first release from An Abstract Illusion as it opens with the 16:38 minutes long "The Sun Will Bleach All Bones" and as both "Rain" and "Chameleon of the Clouds" runs past the 7 minutes mark it´s safe to say that all tracks on the EP are quite long and all feature many different sections and both loud and more subtle dynamics. The soundscape is predominantly pretty massive though with layers of instruments and vocals creating an almost wall of sound. There´s an epic atmosphere to the music and an orchestral/symphonic classical music element too (created by the keyboards).

The EP features a clear, detailed, and professional sounding production, which suits the music well, although to my ears it´s almost too sterile and some more organic and warm sounding instruments and vocals probably would have made the music a more natural listening experience. When that it said, the sound production suits the material as mentioned above, so it´s probably more a subjective observation on my part, that a more organic sound production would have made the EP a more interesting listen.

Upon conclusion it´s a good quality first release from An Abstract Illusion and although I don´t have the feeling that they hit the ground running, they still present enough intriguing songwriting, high level musicianship, and a professional sound production for me to give a 3 star (60%) rating.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

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