Ab Imo Pectore has come out of Portugal and after 3 years as a band have managed to put together their first demo and get it released by a label. As with many black metal bands that represent themselves as being of the TRVE variety they have released it on cassette as well. The real question is how does this fare against the ever growing tides of black metal and it's variances?
"Meh" seems like the word that comes to mind most while listening to this demo. While I can say that the band makes use of both the old school and new variances within black metal, and at times even doing them pretty well, they do nothing amazing. For the first half of the record the band plays it mostly straight. That is to say they fit right in line with the KVLT black metal brotherhood. Blown out recording and cymbals that stay high in the mix are a trademark. Where things shift is within "Space Devouring Space" which acts almost as an interlude of sorts. Slower paced with a croaking spoken vocal line. This song seems to not only break the monotony of the first half but introduce variances found on the second half. Within the last two tracks the band makes use of death rock leanings and angular guitar figures.
While all of these things are well and nice they do little to make the band stick out. They do what they do well but don't stick with one style to make it their own. Most of all they do little to make the songs feel evil or memorable, two things that the black metal bands of old relished in (in their strange way).
