ESHTADUR
From The Abyss
Colombian symphonic extreme metallers soar to new peaks
Eshtadur’s approach to extremity has always been a chimeric affair, swirling European melodeath and a hint of symphonics into a blackened pot to produce top-grade nastiness. From The Abyss carries this torch to ever greater heights, a crisp production job capturing their imperious majesty while still allowing flashy guitarwork to soar above the din. Lowborn Bastard and The Red Door draw from the same wellspring that make Behemoth and Dimmu Borgir such a fearsome proposition, but it’s in the 80s-flavoured guitar solo of The Fall where you’ll notice kernels of arena-rock flamboyance hidden behind the extremity. A cover of All She Wrote by early 90s also-rans Firehouse provides the record’s oddest moment: gloriously ridiculous, yet endearing enough to turn heads. In a post-Babymetal and Alestorm landscape, it just might be the gimmick to clue the masses in to Colombia’s finest new metal export.