Negative Abyss is the debut album from Spanish dark metallers The Holeum, who blend post-metal, doom and dark ambient sounds together to create a sound that is more unique to them.
As a whole, it’s a fairly good album, with plenty of strong elements to it. The way the band utilises different styles is tremendous, and one of the middle tracks, Cosmic Horror, is a solely ambient piece that slots in perfectly to the album, despite not featuring any of the ‘heavier’ approaches seen in the other songs. The juxtaposition of this song with the other works well and it almost feels like a divider to the album, with it being split into two sections where the listener has time to catch their breath during the ‘lull’. More tremendous inclusions are the stunning melodic guitar lines in Vertical Parallel Infinites that give the track an air of epicness, and the tremendous fast pace of earlier song Nuclear Mysticism that descends into an emotive ambient-driven section before the band culminates the two different approaches together for the finale of the track.
However, at times the vocal delivery seems a little out of place. The style doesn’t quite seem to fit in with the music as a whole, and the performance sounds a little forced and unsupported as a whole. It’s a shame because you can hear the passion in the delivery – it’s just the sound and approach doesn’t quite work.
All in all, a great album from The Holeum featuring some awesome songs, and considering this is only their debut, they definitely have the potential to go far.
8/10
