By Andrew Bansal
April 30th 2013, The Vex Arts Centre, Los Angeles CA: Hailing from Dallas, Texas, extreme metal band Absu’s return to North American venues for a full tour has been much awaited and anticipated amongst fans of the band. Prior to this, Absu hadn’t done this kind of touring in America since the release of the ‘Abzu’ album, but they certainly promised to make up for the lost time when they announced a few months ago that they’ll be performing two sets on this tour. Local bands Ritual, Highland and Sadism were also part of the lineup for this show put together by Church Of The 8th Day, and having never seen any of these bands live before I was looking forward to see how it all pans out, how my first visit to this Vex place goes, and what kind of turnout the show brings.
I got to this far-out venue just in time for the start of the show. From among the opening acts, Highland deserves a special mention because they really did bring something interesting to the show and contributed the way an opening act should, by warming up the crowd for the acts to follow and making some new fans in the process. I enjoyed the variety and atmosphere in their interpretation of extreme metal, and everyone I talked to after their set seemed to agree with me. The vocals weren’t audible on the first song but once they fixed that issue, their sound obviously took a drastic leap in the positive direction. Their over of Inquisition’s ‘Crush The Jewish Prophet’ was fabulous too. It was odd that they played without a bassist though, and I’d like to hear how the bass alters their tunes. All in all, Highland turned out to be a good representative for LA extreme metal at this show, and this is a band I’d be inclined to watch whenever they play their next show. As for the other openers Ritual and Sadism, honestly they didn’t excite me at all and their songs were just too generic. It all got a little too repetitive. I’ll give them credit for their dedication, specially to Ritual who have been around this scene for a number of years now.
Things were moving smoothly time-wise, the crowd built up steadily through the opening acts, and at around 10.15, Absu took the stage amidst loud cheers. The wait was finally over for all these fans, and much to their delight, what followed was an absolutely devastating, ear-shattering Absu performance. Their on-stage appearance was more like that of a black metal band but their music definitely had a lot more to it and presented a wide variety of sub-genres blended together in an extremely compelling manner. The set had a great flow to it and for its first part they managed to bring the right mix of songs from their discography which led perfectly into the second part which was all about the ‘The Cythraul Klan’s Scrutiny’ phase of the ‘Tara’ album.
Most of all, I have to commend them for having the stamina and energy to play such a long double-set of such extreme music, with no breaks whatsoever. They really were giving it their 100 per cent and more. They came across as completely seasoned and professional. Seeing and hearing them you could tell that they were at the peak of their performance level, even after already having played 22 shows on this tour. Special plaudits have to be given to Prosciptor and he nailed it on the drums while he did the vocals as well. It’s rare to see drummer vocalists in any genre of music, leave alone extreme metal of this intensity. He was well aided by Ezezu and Vis Crom. As I’ve said this several times in the past, I’ve always found something magical and powerful about three-piece live bands, and it was yet again proven tonight.
The entire set was excellent, but for me there were two major highlights. Firstly it was the song ‘Amy’. I thoroughly enjoyed the lovely thrash gallop of the guitars and the various tempo changes and passages on this one. It automatically brought about a fierce mosh pit in the crowd, and this is the kind of song that would turn a new listener into a fan, or at least raise their curiosity towards the band. The second was when Proscriptor left his drumkit and became the frontman. He brought a whole different dynamic and energy with his movements and mannerisms, and I just wish they’d done an entire section of the set with him on vocals only, although I can imagine that being physically too demanding on him.
As for the venue, location-wise it’s quite a way off from the usual LA metal ‘hotspots’ and I’m sure that affects the turnouts to some extent, but I guess it makes sense as it has now become the true LA underground den, so to speak. The sound was actually better than what I was expecting. With bare concrete walls surrounding the stage on all sides, there was bound to be a degree of echo and it wasn’t the most perfect sounding show by any means, but I think the setting fits well with the kind of shows the Vex hosts.
Overall, a fantastic performance by Absu, well worth the long wait for all fans.
Absu set list:
The Waters-The Denizen
Apzu
Cyntefyn’s Fountain
Night Fire Canonization
Manannán
Morbid Scream (Morbid Scream cover)
Amy
Skrying in the Spirit Vision
Swords and Leather
Highland Tyrant Attack
Never Blow Out the Eastern Candle
Yrp Lluyddawc
From Ancient Times (Starless Skies Burn to Ash)
Four Crossed Wands (Spell 181)
Vorago (Spell 182)
Bron (of the Waves)
Stone of Destiny (…for Magh Slécht and Ard Righ)
Remaining US shows:
5/01/2013 Ruby Room – San Diego, CA
5/02/2013 Rocky Point Cantina – Tempe, AZ
5/04/2013 Boiler Room – Dallas, TX