Abysme - Strange Rites (2012)

   To find death metal bands with traditional Swedish style is everything but uncommon nowadays, even outside the borders Sweden. Howerver if it's about American bands, similar style selection is quite rare, since the US had their own basically more diverse scene, so Swedish death couldn't become so influental there like in Europe. 

   Abysme debuted with a quite raw album, that was like the mix of ordinary Swedish death metal features, primitive, yet not completely well composed themes, and heavy doom influenced slow downs. In total this combination turned out to be advantageous, cause these main elements completing each other. Primitive basic themes are kind of essential features of Swedish death, and even if they ended up more basic than usual in the case of Abysme, they're still increasing the rude and unfriendly tone, that's not really possible to separate from the well known buzzsaw sound. Also sometimes they're having transitional role before slow downs. The only disadvantageous effect is that these theme and speed switches doesn't make the music so diverse as it could have been expected. Simply because their kind of random appearence and primitive noisy effect  they cannot really support the enjoyability on the needed level, since they're effecting together more like chaotic than distinguishable. The band's guitarist/vocalist Brad Heiple was in the old line-up of the also Swedish death influenced Funerus, and as that band inherited the Swedish line, so did Abysme directly. The album also shows somehow more continuity with the Funerus debut, than the first and second Funerus albums with each other.