Torn from the horrors of the observed mind in decay and illustrated through the violent thrum of farseeking ancient-toned death metal Brussels, Belgium-based quintet ABYSMAL DESCENT deliver the obsessed, exaggerative notions of spiraling existential despair on this debut full-length album. Built from a foundation of “old school” abstraction and given bizarre feature via moderne atmospheric metal technique ‘Dismal Thoughts‘ achieves its own unnerving, callous presence while draining neither immediacy nor functional riff count from its action. The cold expanse of their work demands some patience as its mazelike, ancient prog-death periphery calls for numerous extended pieces but it is through this vessel that they deliver the essence of a psyche spiraling under duress and a profoundly entertaining result accordingly.

Abysmal Descent initially formed as a trio between folks involved with Dehuman, Echo Solar Void and Putrid Offal before being joined by bassist R.M. of Neptunian Maximalism and vocalist A.L. of Saqra’s Cult and I believe this line-up’d have to have been finalized on or around the first half of 2024. Of course these are all very capable fellowes with somewhat eclectic positions which stretch beyond ‘old school’ death metal appeasement though the style they’ve chosen to embrace on ‘Dismal Thoughts‘ is immersive, doomed yet relentless traditional death metal where the more technical and estranged development beyond the sub-genre’s original canon finds exaggerative motioning in all directions (re: Immolation, Morbid Angel). Rather than let that suggest imitation or something short of chaotic shrift I would suggest these folks work with an almost painterly hand forming their own emotionally driven atmospheric tempest which is centered around malic and brutality but explores existential despair just as willingly.

The havoc wrought within “Labyrinth of Distress” should read as familiar, something like the abstraction of ‘Harnessing Ruin‘ given to abstract/dissonant voicing and atmospherically shot gurgitation. The effect is initially bizarre with its nigh Bølzerian trample sidling brain dusting refrains which appear more fit for a post-black metal group at a glance. The bones of this song aren’t so alien but rather the voicing of Abysmal Descent‘s guitarists feels like a righteous containment of dissonant chordage and the dagger-readied menace of Vigna worthy rhythms in clash and rattled form. From this first piece we can glean a lot of the band’s intent to warp those foundations and build something elaborate from them, choosing not to curtail but roll with and exaggerative hand. I’m not sure the full effect is so obvious through this opener yet but it does pour the ear directly into greater damage right away.

“Death Rope” has more of an immediate Incantation-esque glower to its main riffs while also featuring some of the most frantically whipped drumming from drummer Louhenapessy up front, though he is basically impressive across the board here as a grinding often brutally swatted engine for the band’s fuming. At this early point in the full listen it is clear that the rooting of Abysmal Descent‘s work is framed by a trio of classic points of inspiration but they’ve chosen to maze through those ideas and warp them rather than simply find variations on popular movements, this is not another overtly referential retro-death drop. I’d felt “Death Rope” alongside the title track (“Dismal Thoughts”) in particular recalled the elite underground death metal of the early 2000’s where groups like Drawn and Quartered and Dead Congregation brought some additional brutality and exaggeration to similar points of inspiration. One potential difference here is that many of Abysmal Descent‘s efforts don’t necessarily square themselves off as ~4-5 minute death metal songs with a verve or two but extend closer to the seven minute mark, often including a grand atmospheric drift or some manner of paradigm disturbed on the path through. That isn’t to say that every song fully commits to something skull-fracturing but in the case of the title track an elaborately stoked fall into doom is enough to create a memorable point for them to claw out of.

Momentum naturally builds within those longer pieces alongside the sense that some great endurance and psychic fortitude persists within these folks’ efforts where the skull is engaged but the punish of each song’s riffcraft is still the major focus. This makes for prime immersive value, probably the strongest argument for the full listen to develop within several strikes through ‘Dismal Thoughts‘, and not so much how they’ve bent the most classic forms but where their extensions of those ideas manage to elongate the maze on offer. Between “Labyrinth of Distress”, “Obscured Visions” and “Abyss of Despair” the true death’s-head is revealed in this sense where each piece feels complete as a death metal song well before Abysmal Descent are finished with their thread. “Abyss of Despair” is arguably the best semblance of this observation, especially the passage which begins ~2:51 minutes in. No, they’re not drawing outside the lines too readily but when we are given a shade of “post-death” coloration the effect is always transporting or at least surrealistic in its reach.

At ~48 minutes in length the runtime of ‘Dismal Thoughts‘ echoes my earlier comment that Abysmal Descent‘s exaggeration of classic forms reads as indulgence atop ‘ready secure foundation and as such I believe it could’ve been edited down even at the risk of being any less complete as it is. A song like “Fragmented Soul” could’ve been excised to create a cleaner streak of longer pieces, enforcing an easier sitting for the listener, yet I don’t think I could justify culling it as a major component of the album’s peaking action. I could likewise make an argument for closer “Imaginal Horror” as pure gilding for the experience which merely marches the ear into the fire for a steadily excruciating burn, one which doesn’t fully match the profundity of “Abyss of Despair” before it, yet the final moment it serves is an exhilarating death.

The greater constellatory strength of ‘Dismal Thoughts‘ is its ability to invoke the sensation of peril and dread within the context of a dark adventure through the mind’s abysm and in this way a truly immersive death metal experience comes of it. Any great death metal album worth its salt most typically conveys its own mood within its machinations and in this case theirs is imposing and impractically volatile, diabolic to a degree that it’d stuck in mind even when I believe they could push their riff count and atmospheric bent even further. This makes Abysmal Descent all the more of a thrill to discover as a font ‘ready capable of this level of self-extraction, they’ve produced a well above average debut that’ll be stuck on regular rotation well beyond the review process. A very high recommendation.

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