Album
Type: Full
Length
Date
Released: 12/5/2015
Label:
Small
Stone Recording
‘Reflections
In The Bowels of the Bird’ CD//DD track listing:
1).
Fountains Of Vengeance
2).
An Offspring To The Wolves
3).
Omens Pt.1
4).
Weary Statues
5).
Omens Pt.2
6).
Kapal Kriya
7).
Square the Circle
8).
Omens Pt.3
9).
A Shepherd’s Grief
10).
Conium…
Abrahma
is
Sébastien
BISMUTH | Vocals, Guitars, Synths and Effects
Nicolas
HELLER | Guitars
Guillaume
COLIN | Bass guitar
Benjamin
COLIN | Drums
Review:
Abrahma,
a band on Small Stone that I was actually not familiar with at all, so with having no previous knowledge of this
bands history I’ll base my review from that perspective. First thing about this
release that will grab you is the absolutely stunning album artwork, second
thing is definitely the title of the record. With a title like “Reflections In
The Bowels of a Bird”, I’m thinking “what the hell, is this going to be a death
metal record out on small stone?” All kidding aside, not at all just a rather
abstract and quizzical album title and what “Reflections In the Bowels of a
Bird” is right out of the gate, is a declaration of no bones about it heavy
rock record with flourishes of psychedelia and tweaks of nineties era hard rock Each time I listened to this record I kept
having this overall feeling of early nineties grunge nostalgia ala Alice in
Chains or Soundgarden, then I read the bands bio, which states that exact
thought as being a large influence. The key to this statement is one of influence
being injected where needed to augment the bands style not an overall clone of
music from that era.
“Fountains
of Vengeance” starts the record off with a distortion intro right into a modernized
approach on an early nineties hard rock sound. Excellent vocals are immediately
noteworthy and a good indication of what we’re in for with the record. Second
offering “An Offspring To The Wolves” gets darker and slower on the listener
and almost sounds like a different band altogether. Really liked this track for
the weight and gravity of it, there were some great parts displayed that built
up the urgency of the song and then fly off the handle into a nice weird
psychedelic part.
With
track three “Omens Pt. 1“ begins a trilogy of more spacey and mellow songs that
thread through the record, “Weary Statues” puts forward a faster more
aggressive approach until the halfway point where they go into something that
reminds me of a spacey Solitude Aeturnus or late 90’s Sentenced, before they
jump back into the original attack of the song. This is a very cool and interesting
track that makes me look forward to the remainder of the record.
“Omens
pt. 2” continues with the mellow and ethereal vibe from part one, bringing to mind Faith No More in parts. Cool guitar
parts weave into the psychedelic effects before matching screams with a jazzy
saxophone piece! I love crazy instrumentation on rock records and especially
the addition of saxophone so this one hits me. Next up “Kapal Kriya” stretches
out the ending of “pt. 2” before becoming its own beast, heavier bass and angry
sounding vocals do well for the entire track and this is a stand out track on
the record for me. I hate to keep coming up with influences and likeness but
this track really pulls heavily from the repertoire of Tool. “Square The
Circle” comes off as a fast, almost radio friendly hard rock/metal song. Not my
thing, but I believe fans of the band will dig it.
“Omens
Pt. 3” is a much darker concluding chapter to the trilogy, more dire and dismal
in all ways and kind of sets the tone for the last quarter of the record. Next
up is “A Shepherds Grief” and this song features Ed Mundell formerly of TAB and
Monster Magnet fame, as one would expect it’s got his signature guitar tone all
over it. This is a good tune and I like it a lot, more of a straight ahead
rocker that showcases the vocal talents as well as the fuzzier direction the
band can take. Finally “Conium” closes out the record on the note of a more
solemn rocker, sort of a ballad with a dire and somber tone. I might be missing
something but it seems like Abrahma decided to close out their second record
with a sense of hopelessness and doom but in an accessible way.
So
to wrap things up, if you’ve got a yearning for something harkening back to
early nineties grunge tinged psychedelia that provides you with a straight
ahead rock with chops and hooks to spare, this will
definitely be a release for you!
Words by:
David Heaton
‘Reflections
In The Bowels of the Bird’ is available here
For more
information:
