German Death Dealers Abyssous – Hear Here!

We got an earful of Abyssous recently when we browsed through some recent promos for a bit of quick, juicy entertainment. Admittedly, it was the band name that drew us in… but it was the gristly death metal within that kept our attention pinned. Originally a demo from last year (in a slightly shorter form), …Smouldering sees a vinyl release from Iron Bonehead on the 1st of October. The band keeps it crusty, black ‘n’ doomy. They’re not changing the game, but they are making every minute of that game a whole lot of fun. Don’t bang your head – I dare you.

Abyssous let us in on their process a little bit, so here we pass it on to you. Check out the song “Exanimation Rite” and find yourself enrolling in the old school yet once again!

Two of Abyssous’s members play in Heretic. How does the approach differ between the two bands?

The workflow within Abyssous is like a classic band working together on the songs. The material for Heretic is written by Jonty Lava and then arranged by the whole band. Both ways work just fine. It’s not possible for us to give 200% to each band at the same time, so the focus alternates.

From where do you draw your infernal inspiration for riffs, lyrics, album art, etc?

The riffing and lyrics are much influenced by the different moods old death metal can create but also from ancient stories, morbid dreams, mythology and nameless horrors. The album art got a really evil lovecraftian edge and totally reflects what the new songs are about.

How do the shorter, moodier tracks like “Entering the Cave”, “Profaning Intrusion of…” and “Abscondence” come together?

Jonty writes and records these on his own and most of the sounds are actually done with guitars. These pieces emphasize and extend the whole atmosphere of the songs. They are as much essential for the whole record like the actual tracks.

How much have you played this music live? How have those experiences been?

We had the opportunity to play great gigs along with great bands like Asphyx, Sadistic Intent, Portal and more… So until now it has been a really awesome and crushing time for us.

How would you characterize the recording process for …Smouldering?

Well, it was lot of hard work but very exciting and the result is just what we aimed for. Everything we can, we do on our own such as engineering and mixing.

Are there any of these songs you feel most proud of, or most attached to?

The new material in addition to the demo, brings it to the point what we are currently heading for with Abyssous. The new songs are always the most exciting ones.

What does Abyssous have planned for the future?

More and more gigs! At one of our next gigs we will support the great Master, this will be another lethal eve for us! We are also writing new material for a future release.