Review: Abrogation - Tief, Schwarz, Blutig, Rot

Many of us agree that German is quite a suitable language for metal. A harsh language for hard music. Abrogation is one of those few bands who sing in their mother tongue. And while the majority of those bands, at some point, start to use English, Abrogation did the exact opposite, and while their two first releases were in English, from 1999 they sing in German.  

“Tief, Schwarz, Blutig, Rot”, their new album, follows the steps of its predecessors. What we are dealing with here is an interesting mix of melodic death metal with some folk elements. Death metal riffs and strong blast-beats meet some beautiful medieval melodies. Schwarte sings in his typical, harsh but understandable growls, and I have to say that they sound really good in German, even though I have no idea what they are about. The whole album offers some variety, even though the pace remains almost the same during the main songs. As for the production, I don’t have to sy much, but it certainly could be better.

An interesting thing that Abrogation did is that they put in “Tief, Schwarz, Blutig, Rot” an amazing intro, “Intro”, and an equally amazing outro, “Ausweg”, both of which are instrumental tracks. “Intro” starts with the orchestra playing some very impressive music, and around the middle the metal instruments join in, and they show the path this album is going to take. In “Des Pharrers Tauben” and “Abgrund” you will find some very nice guitar solos and John Doe does quite a good job with his blast-beats. “Magdeburger Hochzeit” has a medieval intro that makes you think that the bards will come out and sing. Well, this image changes when the violent bass line kicks in. “Das Nordmannische Heer” is a bit slower than the other songs, with an acoustic intro, and a more mellow melody. With “Vom Ende Der Welt” we pick up the pace, as this is a very powerful and fast song.

Abrogation have put out without a doubt a very decent release. There are a few weak moments, and you will not find anything new in this album, but give it a listen. Tracks like “Des Pharrers Tauben”, “Tief, Schwarz, Blutig, Rot”, “Herr Richter”, and “Vom Ende Der Welt” are definitely worth it.  

Label: Medusa Productions

Schwarte – Vocals, Guitar

Poldi – Guitar

RW – Bass

John Doe – Drums

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