{"id":49520,"date":"2016-09-16T00:00:14","date_gmt":"2016-09-16T00:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=49520"},"modified":"2018-03-22T22:52:47","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T22:52:47","slug":"album-review-johansson-and-speckmann-edge-of-the-abyss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-johansson-and-speckmann-edge-of-the-abyss\/","title":{"rendered":"JOHANSSON & SPECKMANN – Edge Of The Abyss (2016) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

JOHANSSON & SPECKMANN
Edge Of The Abyss<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nSoulseller (2016)<\/span>
Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Edge Of The Abyss<\/em> is the third outing from death metal duo Rogga Johansson (guitar and bass, Paganizer) and Paul Speckmann (vocals, Master), and follows on from 2015\u2019s superb Mask Of The Treacherous<\/em><\/a>. There was no way that with such legendary performers involved that Edge Of The Abyss<\/em> was going to be anything but superb.<\/p>\n

Accompanied by Brynjar Helgetun (drums) and Kjetil Lynghaug (lead guitar), Johansson & Speckmann have churned out another mini-masterpiece that will probably be overlooked by many and yet rarely will you hear \u2013 in this day and age \u2013 such a masterclass in rattling death metal. Of course, for those of you without a head you may not realise who Rogga Johansson and Paul Speckmann are, but they have a discography a majority of death metal musicians can only dream of.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise then that Edge Of The Abyss<\/em> rumbles with that same sort of arrogance and old school prowess. We get nine, very much to the point aggressive numbers all featuring Speckmann\u2019s distinctive evil drool and a monstrous percussive assault sure to resort you to a jabbering wreck. <\/p>\n

The quality on offer here just cannot be dismissed. After just one listen, I was hooked; addicted to those catchy yet volatile rhythms, battered by Brynjar Helgetun\u2019s drums and skewered upon those infectious leads. With so many modern bands eager to replicate that old school feel, these guys don\u2019t even need to think about it. It comes natural, and all you can do is soak yourself in the aggressive juices which flow from \u2018Perpetuate The Lie\u2019, \u2018Turn It Around\u2019, \u2018A Concept\u2019 and my favourite slab of fast-paced brilliance in \u2018Misanthropy\u2019. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s just no let up from the aggression but there\u2019s so much variety, particularly in the opening strains of \u2018Turn It Around\u2019 which has an almost black metal aesthetic with its ashen chords before transforming itself into a mighty chunk of groove metal. Meanwhile, \u2018The Last Witness Is Barely Alive\u2019 takes us back to the gruesome days of the mid-80s; \u2018The Last Witness Is Barely Alive\u2019 is a rotten, spewing and festering lump of grotesque metal where Speckmann really comes into his own lyrically, his gargles full of bile and vomit. The wretched wall of sound behind him is such a juddering yet concise mess that one can only listen agog at the knowing arrogance.<\/p>\n

\u2018Already In Disguise\u2019 filters the same classic death metal nuances, but there\u2019s such a hefty amount of pace throughout this platter that one feels as if they\u2019ve taken a blood-soaked time machine back to those halcyon days of early death metal rumblings. <\/p>\n

Mixing frenetic thrash blasts and graven death metal warbles, Johansson & Speckmann have once again carved out a menacing, spiteful and big-headed slab of noise that only a fool can ignore.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JOHANSSON & SPECKMANNEdge Of The Abyss Soulseller (2016)Rating: 9\/10 Edge Of The Abyss is the third outing from death metal duo Rogga Johansson (guitar and bass, Paganizer) and Paul Speckmann (vocals, Master), and follows on from 2015\u2019s superb Mask Of The Treacherous. There was no way that with such legendary performers involved that Edge Of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1766],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-johansson-speckmann"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49520"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49523,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49520\/revisions\/49523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}