OvO: Abisso (2013)

Punishing Electronics

It seems I have a continuing quest to find music that’s not metal, but is still metal. You know what I mean? OvO is a great example of that.

I know pretty close to nothing about electronic music. I have some stuff from Iannis Xenakis and the Fight Club soundtrack, so . . . probably not a representative sample of what's out there. Luckily, I do hear a bit of the Dust Brothers work on two of the songs from Abisso, specifically on “Harmonia Microcosmica” and “Harmonia Macrocosmica.” There’s also an industrial side to this.

Now, this is crucial: The drums are real. Just throwing that out there, because for me, programmed drums can be a deal-breaker.


The two songs I mentioned are vaguely hip hop-like, and a little like the cooler parts of the Fight Club soundtrack, but not quite. The record as a whole is more like the Norwegian Shining, but more focused, more compelling, and more threatening. It’s interesting rhythmically, with harsh metal-like/industrial sounds doing everything else. The vocalist sounds a little like Greg Puciato in a nightmare. They use this formula to range from an Author & Punisher-like doomy vibe (“A Dream within a Dream”) to much faster-paced material (“I Cannibali”), and they also explore a broad range of other dynamics.

I’m at a loss to draw any more parallels to explain it. But if anything about this description intrigues you, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

The Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars