Warthur
The preceding Manilla Road album might have been called Mystification, but by my reckoning Out of the Abyss is perhaps the most mysterious album from this heavy metal powerhouse's original run. With allusions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the Jack the Ripper case, it's certainly got some classic themes going here, and musically speaking it interestingly mixes traditional heavy metal and thrash elements. It's an album worth listening to carefully to really unpack its secrets, but I think it is well worth it once you do; out of all their releases between Crystal Logic and The Courts of Chaos, I'd say it's the one which took the longest to win me over.
