adg211288
Abysmal Thresholds (2014) is the debut full-length studio album by Finnish death metal act Corpsessed. The group have been going a few years already and have previously released the EP's The Dagger & the Chalice (2011) and Corpsessed (2012). While the first EP features material unique to it the second one, consisting of just two songs, is entirely represented on Abysmal Thresholds.
The music on the album is raw, dirty, old school death metal with deep growling vocals that, as with many death metal performances, defy casual interpretation. It's probably about as dark and evil sounding as death metal can get. But while Abysmal Thresholds doesn't want for a great atmosphere, it does lack anything particularly memorable to make me want to keep coming back to it. When it comes to death metal the one thing I really want to dig above all else is the riffs. I don't particularly care if I can't make out a word of the lyrics so long as the riffs hit home, and they don't on Abysmal Thresholds. The production/mixing work comes across as being a step too far into unpolished territory so it rarely allows anything to properly stand out within Corpsessed's barrage of sound, though it does have its moments of hinted at greatness. Because of this it's difficult to get a feeling for each individual composition in order to identify them from each other. This is actually a problem I find with many death metal releases though, the difference to other releases is I usually can appreciate the riffs throughout.
Abysmal Thresholds is not an awful album by any means. Even with its faults it's okay for a casual listen, although nothing more. I guess I expected more from the band; although this was only my first time experiencing their music they'd already released two EP's via their record label which seem to have earned a growing regard for their take on old school death metal. Well I have to say I don't get it based on my experience with Abysmal Thresholds. Not one bit. This album falls into all the pitfalls that sit in the way of making a straight up death metal release good and memorable.