Abyssal Rift – Relics of Great Ash
Release Date: 14th August 2026
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Doom.
FFO: Incantation, Cruciamentum, Immolation.
Review By: Aeons Burning
Abyssal Rift impressed me back in 2023 with their debut Extirpation Dirge for its rather oppressive blend of death metal, and seeing that they have a new one out this year was a pleasant surprise. Going from Sentient Ruin to Transcending Obscurity as a label, while guaranteeing more merch sales, since TO is the best at merch, is always daunting, but when I saw Abyssal Rift on this year’s sampler I was confident they wouldn’t disappoint. And I was right, because Relics of Great Ash is one of the more nuanced “caverncore” death metal albums I’ve listened to in quite a while.
When a band is tagged as for fans of either Incantation or Cruciamentum, you kind of know what to expect: mid-paced lumbering riffs and sonorous growls as well as a general rumbly sound. And to be fair, Abyssal Rift do bring that, but where they shine is in the compositions of these songs. Abyssal Rift expertly use synths as well as other non-standard metal instruments all throughout Relics of Great Ash, and it brings a really nice layer of variety to this death metal. In Consummate Design, for example, there’s a really beautiful yet ominous flute section that closes out the track and makes you think that there’s something more to this record than just neck-snapping riffs, and on the title track, Abyssal Rift go ham with the synths and create a spooky, spidery sounding atmosphere before bringing that spidery sound into a riff that sounds straight out of Close to a World Below-era Immolation. This trend continues across the rest of the album and it’s really quite refreshing how Abyssal Rift are able to use near minimalistic techniques to make an already solid album elevated.
Relics of Great Ash is a solid record through and through, and while it’s not my favorite death metal of the year, I appreciate the twists and turns present throughout. This album feels like if you decided to go “what if death metal but more varied” and that shower thought actually came true, which first of all is a weird thing to be thinking about in the shower, but who doesn’t have weird shower thoughts from time to time. Abyssal Rift have thankfully not fallen into the dreaded sophomore slump and have released an album that’s quite fun and quite necessary to come back to time and again because if you don’t, it’ll throw you for a loop and you’ll be lost in the space between riffs wondering how to escape. This is quite the unpredictable record, and I for one am happy to have made the journey.
(3.5 / 5)
