TIME IS THE SULPHUR IN THE VEINS OF THE SAINT...

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Time Is the Sulphur in the Veins of the Saint... is the 8th full-length studio album by Austrian black metal act Abigor. The album was released in January 2010 by End All Life Productions. Abigor was very active in the years between 1993 and 2003 releasing several demos, EPs and full-length studio albums. All releases were more or less in a raw traditional black metal style. In 2003 Abigor split-up only to reform again in March 2006. Fractal Possession (2007) was the first release after the reformation of the band and displayed a departure from the raw black metal of the past. Instead you'll find an industrialized avant garde black metal sound not far from the style on the last couple of D'dheimsgard albums.

...that's also more or less the case with Time Is the Sulphur in the Veins of the Saint.... This time around the band have composed two almost 20 minute long tracks which is quite a progressive move. You'll find blasting drums, lots of dissonance, tempo shifts and raspy vocals here. In addition to that it's no surprise, given their length, that the songs are quite complex in structure. This is not the type of album you put on one time and memorize upon first listen. This is challanging and demanding music. The technical level of playing is really high too, so you'll find lots of interesting details in the playing too.

The production is professional and suits the music well. Personally I think the drums are too high in the mix and the guitars too low but it's more a matter of aquired taste than it's a matter of bad production values.

So overall Time Is the Sulphur in the Veins of the Saint... is a pretty strong album by Abigor but they don't exactly reach the hights of the best releases in the genre IMO. I like the concept of two 20 minute long tracks, but there are parts of the tracks where I find my attention wanders. Maybe because the songs lack some truly breathtaking moments or maybe because they lack a bit in the memorability department. So it's not a perfect album but still above average and full of intriguing ideas and that warrants a 3.5 star rating from me.

'Time Is The Sulphur In The Veins Of The Saint...' - Abigor (7/10)

Much in the same vein as other similar acts like Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord, the Austrian trio Abigor plays a very dark, eccentric and chaotic brand of black metal. Although many will have been introduced to the scene of black metal through the classic 'raw' acts like early Bathory or Mayhem, Abigor takes the melancholic and intense sound and runs with it in an entirely different direction here, with their 2010 album, entitled 'Time Is The Sulphur In The Veins Of The Saint.' Essentially a forty minute long composition divided into halves, there is an undeniable sense of ambition here that seems to run through almost every idea they employ, and I find myself quite impressed by what the satanic Austrians have compiled here, even if the record may be a bit light on adhesive.

Abigor's earlier material was much more straightforward and to-the-point, and it should come as quite a surprise to someone who has not heard them since then to come across this record, which is very quick to set aside the rather concrete conventions widely held by black metallers. There are still raspy vocals, quickly strummed guitar rhythms and aggressive drum work, but it is the sense of eccentric dynamic that sets Abigor aside from merely being another clone. Although it is difficult to distinguish any particular element of this massive composition, it is quite common for the band to go from a heavy section of orthodox black metal to an eerie choral section, ambient soundscape, electronic beat, or even a hint or two of pop music. All of this variety is bound together by a rather similar mood and theme that prevails throughout 'Time Is The Sulphur'; commonly being darkness, and aspects of satanism respectively. Unfortunately, the concept of hailing Satan in black metal has been overused to the point of being a joke, and Abigor are not able to pull it off without it sounding a little cheesy in parts.

As often occurs with longer pieces of music, 'Time Is The Sulphur' is a challenging piece of music to get into, and takes quite a few listens before the majority of its layers unfold before the listener. Even many listens in though, Abigor's music retains an aspect of novelty, due in no small part due to the fact that they have crammed about as many musical ideas into this album as they could have likely hoped for. The downside to this is that there is a lack of overall cohesion to the album that I would associate with a masterpiece. That being said, the music is always kept very interesting, even if some of the ideas may not entirely work to the band's benefit.