10 Amazing Metal Bands That Totally Defy Genre
4. An Abstract Illusion
An Abstract Illusion hail from Sweden, the homeland of the exciting sub-genre of melodic death metal. More than two decades after the style first began to make waves thanks to the likes of In Flames and Dark Tranquillity, this magnificent power trio debuted with Illuminate the Path, an album that took their homeland’s greatest musical export and did nothing but fill it with pure, unchecked steroids.
What results are 69 minutes of unfiltered aural madness that feel like a particularly violent orgy involving Dimmu Borgir, old-school Opeth and Edge of Sanity.
An Abstract Illusion are a wondrous thing to experience, packing their lengthy songs with innumerable dynamics. Every track has the ability to masterfully segue from ambient acoustic movements to all-out, riff-driven insanity at the blink of an eye, ignoring traditional song structures to craft one of the most unpredictable albums of this generation.
Illuminate the Path is a mathematic wonder, but it also has soul and wit on its side, with a great many of its guttural riffs or movements still pummelling or even catchy as all hell. It’s a gorgeous beast that takes its time, but never wastes the listener’s time: nothing is needlessly prolonged.
Oh God, this band are too freaking good. Just listen to them, OK?