Baron unveil their debut album.
After two EPs and a demo, the Finnish band featuring Tommi Astala (vocals), Jerry Tamminen (guitar/vocals), Toni Nisukangas (bass), Teemu Karell (guitar) and Juuso Hämäläinen (drums) sign with Transcending Obscurity Records for the release of Beneath the Blazing Abyss.
The underworld is literally invoked right from the start of Primordial Possession, the first track, which develops a suffocating sound coupled with an unhealthy groove and raw vocal parts, creating a veritable flood of darkness. The sound is predominantly throbbing, but the musicians provide a few well-considered accelerations to guarantee a catchy rhythm, leading us to Infernal Atonement and its unleashed screams, which also contribute to making the track very aggressive. The rhythm is also punctuated by more virulent parts and dissonant passages, as on At the Dawn of Damnation, where the opening moments are anchored in oppression before surrendering once again to fury. A few words appear in the distance, but the haunting, Doom-infused rhythm keeps us on our toes, disappearing only to let a much softer guitar make the transition to the rage of Incinerated Evil, a track where blasts and cutting riffs meet at a steady pace, while placing screaming harmonics. The riffs remain very heavy, creating a real divide with the airy approach of Bound to the Funeral Pyres, a second long composition revealing clean notes and keyboards before letting the rhythm strike first with all its oppressive power, then with vindictive roots. It’s back to dissonance and sweetness as the track draws to a close, giving way to Hands of Sin… to celebrate the inevitable return of stunned explosive violence, but also to its follow-up, …Swallowed by Fires Beneath, which closes the album with that unexpectedly hazy, mysterious but ultimately soothing sound.
We discover heaviness and brutality at different speeds with Baron. But the band also offers a few rare airy passages to temper their hellish rhythms on Beneath the Blazing Abyss.
80/100