CD REVIEW: Under the Abyss – A Future to Behold

Shane | 1 July 2015 | Reply

CD REVIEW: Under the Abyss – A Future to Behold
Send The Wood Music
17 May, 2015
Review by Shayne McGowan
8 1/2 /10

I really have to search high and low to find modern metal music that I like. Bands like Bring Me the Horizon are far to screamo for me and more and more these days, that is where metal is heading. Every now and then, a Lamb of God or a Mastodon will come along and really grab me, but more often than not, modern metal just doesn’t move me.

Formed in 2002 in France, Under the Abyss has just released their second full length album, and they have left me wondering, where have they been all my life?!

From about a minute into A Future to Behold, Under the Abyss had my full and undivided attention. This is a band that has the potential to one day take the torch from the likes of Machine Head and Devildriver, and run with it. What they offer is a sound that takes elements of thrash metal and groove metal, even adding in a bit of black metal for good measure, and turning it into something that is very pleasurable to my ears.

Of course, the fact that the band members are all very good musicians helps bring that sound to life.

From the opening assault of The Wrath of Nantosuelta, Under the Abyss are out to prove themselves, and they stop at nothing to get the message across. The riffs come thick and fast, and you can’t help but marvel at the technicality of some of the guitar work from Esteban Segalen and Marc Le Gall, particularly on a song like The Bearer of Light.

Lucas Jolly never over plays his drums, always seeming to know what is needed to advance the song, rather than show off his talents, and his partner in the rhythm section, Damien Pailer on the bass, is always there with the perfect accompaniment.

Vocalist Theophile Rouxel can scream his lungs out when required, but can also demonstrate a great clean vocal, like on Meaningless Things. Over all, I think that A Future to Behold is a fantastic metal album for 2015, and just what I have been looking for.

I can see every song from the record being a live crowd pleaser, and inciting festival mosh pits all over the world.