UMUR
"Evil" is a 7" EP by Swedish doom/noise/black metal project Abruptum. The EP was released through Psycho-Slaughter in November 1991. Abruptum was at this point a two-piece act consisting of IT (Guitars, Bass, Drums, Vocals) and All (vocals).
Stylistically the band play a dark and tortured doom/noise/black metal style. It´s a rather unpleasant and quite frankly disturbing listen but it´s also very intriguing and adventurous. The music is atmospheric and ambient and the heavy dissonant riffing are placed quite low in the mix and sometimes not present at all. Eerie keyboards, noises, and sound effects are omnipresent. I´d call this an atmospheric noise release before I´d call it a doom/black metal release. The vocals are quite extreme and spans from tortured screaming to unintelligible growling. The sound production is dark and murky, but all instruments and vocals are audible in the mix. It´s one of those releases where the sound is meant to be this way. A clear and polished sound production would probably have ruined the gloomy atmosphere.
"Evil" is a very interesting release by Abruptum and it´s obvious why a host of noise/doom/black metal artists (among those Gnaw Their Tongues) mention them as a primary influence and a seminal act in that genre. I´ve heard both better and more intriguing releases in this obscure sub genre, but "Evil" is still worth a 3.5 star (70%) rating.