Pravus Abyssus ‎"Within The Abyss Of Solitude" CD

Deep atmospheric Ambient Black Metal, strictly limited at 300 copies

Within the Abyss of Solitude is an excellent little chunk of black metal with a cosmic bent, much like Darkspace and, more recently, Alrakis, incorporating key elements of both and infusing some new ones into the mix. From the former, Acerbus takes the capacity for rolling, crunchy riffs and melodies, but he does not fall into the trap of over-repetition Darkspace occasionally does, and incorporates them only where the song structure calls for them. From the latter, he takes the ability to craft solidly atmospheric, yet still highly melodic, ambient tremolo-driven sections.
The songwriting as a whole, however, is the real standout for me. The individual songs support each other extremely well, much like in a good symphony, and what really strikes me in particular is the flow. No individual section of any song goes on for too little or too much time, and the way they string together simply serves to magnify the impact of each section. Indeed, though the riffs and melodies are memorable and excellent in their own right, the structure is so well-thought out and well-implemented that I feel this demo still would have been stellar had the riffs been generic instead, as long as the structure was maintained.
When I first got ready to listen to this release, however, I was hesitant. I feared the stereotypical poor production quality of black metal demos from ages past. When the music actually started playing, though, I was pleasantly surprised. The production ended up being quite good, having both good mixing and a nicely well-rounded quality that allowed it to accommodate both ambient and full riffing passages equally well.
In the end, I am very happy that I stumbled across this floating around the internet, and look forward to whatever Pravus Abyssus releases down the line.

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