Absurd
Asgardsrei
[No Colours/IG Farben]


Style: Very raw, distorted, and Teutonic sounding black metal with a minor punk influence. NSBM.

Voice: Harsh, shouted black metal vocals mixed with some Viking influenced clean singing that wavers in and out of tune. The lyrics are in German and are reminiscent of one of Hitler's speeches: angry, spirited, and frightening. 9.5/10

Guitar: Chugging, heavily distorted guitar riffs and energetic German march leads. An enormous improvement on "Facta Luquuntur", but the Nazi influence is all too apparent. For those who like Absurd. 8/10

Bass: Mostly inaudible, but does add to the distorted, underlying wall of sound. 6/10

Drums: Some more adventurous beats are experimented with here, but they are not brilliantly played. However, this does not take away from the album. 7/10

SongwrSongwriting: Absurd's total embrace of the Nazi ideology has seemed to work wonders for the band. The music and lyrics are just as catchy, groovy, and enjoyable as "Facta Luquuntur", but now Absurd can be taken as far more than just angry, amusing kids. This is a very serious, and important band who now pose a major threat to the minds of "Correct Thinking" individuals. Take for example "Crux Gammata", an excellent, flowing riff that builds up while Hitler delivers a speech in the background, and "Sonnenritter" a fantastic, partially ambient track. Again, the lyrics are all in German. 9/10

Production: A buzzing, distorted wall. All instruments can be heard well, and the quality of production is much more than you could ask for from a raw black metal record. 9/10

Packaging: NAZI! The cover is a drawn pagan battle scene, while all other pictures are of NS symbols, German soldiers, and SS Officers. The funniest picture is of a Nazi soldier and a pagan soldier with a similar face. An NSBM band's wet dream. Still the blatant Nazi propaganda here is all very professional looking and high quality so I have to give it marks for that. 8/10

Overall: Those who have read my review of War 88's "White Aryan Resistance" will know that I don't care for Nazism, but I have to say that I thoroughly enjoying this release. While some will hate Absurd, I could not help but recognize this album as no less than a great black metal album. That may make me a hypocrite, but who the hell cares?

Grade: B+

Points of Interest: Rob Darken performs the intro on this record and Varg Vikernes does a write up in the booklet. This album is available in a 5-track MCD format, and an 8-track vinyl format on WolfTower Productions.


© 2001 raagoonshinnaah