LEYTMOTIF LUZIFER (THE 7 TEMPTATIONS OF MAN)

Considering how primal and 'anti-art' much of the second wave of black metal purported themselves to be, it is halfway ironic?though entirely welcome?that so many of the bands have since expanded their grasp to encompass experimental and avant-garde territory. Austria's Abigor was founded in 1993 as a relative mirror of their Norwegian contemporaries' approach and atmosphere, but nine full-lengths have witnessed an evolution in favour of bleak abstraction. Like Deathspell Omega, Abigor use their strangest elements to amplify the spiritual warfare and malevolence held sacred by genre-traditionalists.

I have been a moderate fan of Abigor's work since 2010 when they released the impressive Time Is the Sulphur in the Veins of the Saint. In the years since, I've gotten around to hearing most of their work. While I've found most of their back catalog enjoyable (with particular accolades going to the above-mentioned Sulphur, abstract masterpiece Fractal Possession and their classic Nachthymnen), I have always had the impression that Abigor aren't quite as consistently masterful as the bands they're often compared with. In the case of Leytmotif Luzifer, the chaotic aggression, spastic leads, and 'orthodox' spirituality peg them firmly within the neighbourhood of the aforementioned Deathspell Omega. It is worthy of some praise that Abigor have unleashed their most hectic album to date, but they seem to lack something that Deathspell Omega had plenty of: a means of refreshing the effect of their extremity through consistent and dynamic composition.

It is not my intention to imply that Leytmotif Luzifer was in any way hurried or thoughtless when it came to its songwriting. Black metal as complex and harried as this never blooms without some numberless amount of attention given to it. Each minute of the album rushes past in a surge; the faux-chorus of growled vocals alone seem to play the part of an unruly mob; an impression of chaos?in this context only?comes from strict order on the band's part. The guitars are fast and biting, and sometimes bolstered with symphonic undertones. Leytmotif Luzifer is replete with quick burst-fire solos that emerge in virtually every track, exactly alike in tone and context to the leads of Deathspell Omega's own Fas ? Ite, Maledict, in Ignem Aeternum. It's clear where Abigor have taken some of their inspiration from; they employ chaotic energy to generally admirable effect, but for music that has taken such great lengths to appear avant-garde, Leytmotif Luzifer sounds a little too familiar for its own good.

Abigor have charged with such speed and aggression here that it takes several listens to make any sense of it. That feeling of being out-of-control as a listener is part of what can make this chaotic branch of black metal work so well. The band's folly with Leytmotif Luzifer is that they have continued this assault without relent; there is no respite nor sense of contrast to give weight to the amorphous aggression that runs throughout the album's length. Abigor's dedication to chaos and most forms of extremity work against their own effect. It is not long before the listener grows accustomed to the same guitar patterns and sporadic leads; as any addict will tell you, it's not long before a tolerance builds up. It is such that it actually feels like a revelation on 'Temptation V: Neglect' when Abigor tone down the chaos for the sake of a quasi-Gregorian vocal hook: "We praise thee!".

Even when it seems to be an expected prerequisite to have at least a mild fluency in Latin and/or Greek to make a 'serious' anti-Christian statement in black metal, it should be said that Abigor yet stand apart from any of their peers when it comes to their lyrical exploration. Leytmotif Luzifer is not, perhaps, the epitome intellectually and challenging manifestos; it is nonetheless difficult and rare for a band to write Satanic lyrics that feel sincerely religious. Indeed, Leytmotif Luzifer reads like it was drawn from the pen-hand of a genuine fanatic. It is a shame that the music rarely evokes the same feeling of authentic spiritual evocation.

Although Abigor have never swayed from their mission of Satanic predication, their grasp of the subject has evolved just as much as the music; as per the best of their contemporaries, they pursue their worship with a poetic depth and conviction that matches the scriptures of those who profess other, considerably more mainstream theologies? Leytmotif Luzifer is nowhere near as cutting-edge, nor quite as inventive as it first sounds, but Abigor's latest packs enough of a swirling punch to satisfy most of those who deem themselves fans of this twisted end of the black metal spectrum.

Originally written for Heathen Harvest Periodical