This is the fourth album form French black metallers Dysylumn.
Following on from 2020’s Cosmogonie comes the 37-minute Abstraction. Compared to its gargantuan predecessor, it’s far shorter, but lacks for nothing in dominating presence.
Abstraction offers a compelling vision for Dysylumn’s charismatic art. It’s black metal, riven with death metal might, and flickering with spectral melody. It’s impressive stuff. The combination of the dark blackened guitars, the striking melodies, and the notable vocals really makes its mark.
The melodies are an important part of the Dysylumn experience. They’re otherworldly and ethereal; atypical in some ways, yet not in others. They are simultaneously of black metal, yet somehow separate from it too, as if they have discovered an unnameable secret that has allowed them to ascend to some unreachable place, and we’re only capable of hearing their celestial echoes as they soar through the heavens. This would be potent enough, even without the strength of the surrounding musical framework that can barely contain their majesty.
The vocals work perfectly with the melodies, and the whole songwriting style overall. There are pitch black monstrous growls that swallow all light and hope, but there are also semi-clean singing/shouts/whatever that absolutely brim with emotive power. Taken together, it’s a performance to take note of.
There is so much about Abstraction that recommends itself though. Like the drumming, which is nuanced and carries with it a surprising amount of personality, or more generally the richly rendered soundscapes that the songs develop as they spread themselves out over time. Dysylumn excel at dark esoteric worldbuilding that makes the album such a compelling listen and worth exploring at length. It’s a visceral multidimensional assault on the senses, one that is both contemplative and entirely of the moment it exists in.
Honestly, I’m quite taken by it all. Abstraction has shocked me with its arcane vigour. Dysylumn’s new record is a triumph of blackened emotion, and a record to be savoured over time.
Essential listening.
Wonderbox Metal 