This is the third album from UK sludge/doom metal band Torpor.
Torpor play heavy, mood-focused music that crushes as much as it affectingly moves. Combining sludge, doom, and post-metal into 41 minutes of gritty material, Abscission is a record that is worth hearing if you’re partial to the style.
The songs on Abscission feature an avalanche of heaviness, but Torpor aren’t just a heavy band. Their music is atmospheric and textured, allowing for subtlety and nuance to arise from their exploration into the underworld of heavy music. Abscission speaks with post-metal elegance, while also benefiting from sludge’s dominating presence and the glacial patience of doom. Patches of drone and ambient add further layers and detail to the sonic canvas that Torpor work upon, broadening their reach further, (spoken word is unfortunately also used on Interior Gestures. To be fair to Torpor though, it’s less intrusive here than when many bands do it).
Minor complaint aside, there’s much to enjoy here if you appreciate heaviness that’s stark and harsh, yet filled with passionate sludgy depth. Torpor don’t sound especially like Khanate, but they still remind my of that seminal act in the way that they do a lot with a little. Like Khanate, Torpor know how to craft huge monolithic structures that contain whole tapestries to wander through, with minimal materials and simple construction methods. I should say though that Torpor do also throw in a few other components too, such as occasional cleans and melody. I like the way that Torpor build their music, and Abscission is a welcome slab of granite heaviness, shot through with detailing that elevates it above the purely crushing.
If you’re a fan of bands such as Cult of Luna, Bismuth, Neurosis, Hundred Year Old Man, Wren, Thou, Primitive Man, etc. then Abscission is an album that you should be checking out. It presents the listener with a well-crafted and well-paced journey into bleak aural horror. The album develops from one piece to the next will skilled flow, and has many strengths setting it above the average for the style.
Highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 