Absurd – Totenlieder (2003)

April 21, 2023

Absurd have always drawn me in, as far back as I can ever remember, due to the forbidden nature about listening to these guys. They are, after all, the OGs (I bet they love that) of NSBM. The trouble is, is that every “classic” Absurd release that came my way sounded like complete unlistenable shite. And hey, I’m a man whose heard his fair share of crappy demo tapes – but the Absurd ones are particularily awful.

We can thank the YouTube Music app, of all things (reject modernity!), for introducing me to Absurd material that is actually good. “Ooooh, what is this?” I said to myself, as the frosted riffs of “Nordmännerlied” filled the space between my ears (there’s a brain there somewhere). The production is actually listenable, which itself is a novelty with this band, and I learned after that this is from a completely different era / lineup, which explains a lot.

The riffs have a morose melodic quality to them, whilst the rest of the music is fairly primitive, relying on folk-based structures and styles. The vocals too, meander from the black metal rasp to something altogether more folky and chanty. Which, is, to be honest, expected really, now I know the kind of subject matter that’s at hand here.

So: to recap, looking past the NSBM tag, this was an enjoyable album.