Behind «Mittags-Abgrund» hides a solo project that began as a proper band: Sch., known from CMPT, Morgenstern and Pyre, formed it in 2022 in Saint Petersburg and kept it alive after his move to Serbia. His debut comes out via Darkness Shall Rise Productions and moves between black and death metal, with all the lyrics in Russian.
Country: Russia / Serbia
Genre: Black/Death Metal
For fans of: Aeternus, Immortal, Urfaust, Bölzer, Morbid Angel
Nine tracks in 48 minutes, with an intro and an outro. The samples that preceded it — «Aurora Consurgens», «Портреты моих предков» and «Пой со мной (Грусть в глазах бога)» — showed that this is not the work of a beginner. On drums is F. as a guest, while Sch. takes on everything, with vocals that pass from whispers and hoarse screams to clean passages.
Our take
The first impression is that you are hearing something far more mature than a debut. «Mittags-Abgrund» doesn’t pick a side between black and death metal: the two currents bind organically, with the grandeur of Aeternus, Immortal and Bölzer meeting riffs that bring Morbid Angel to mind. The death metal here works like muscle, giving percussive force to an essentially atmospheric result.
The opening with «Портреты моих предков» has the volume of «Blizzard Beasts» and a sense of old, labyrinthine threat, with an abrupt stop in the middle to challenge ears that think they know what’s coming. «Пой со мной» slows the pace and builds with drone logic and heavy air, where the vocals become the real weapon: their arrangement turns the track into a sermon at a steady tempo.
In the second half, the tracks move over the same vocabulary with variations — «Паруса крыльев простёрты» and «В городе» are the points that pull most. Musically, «Mittags-Abgrund» speaks of the collapse of civilisations and institutions, of the remnants of mythology and philosophy, and it does so without exaggerations: aggressive rhythm and thought together. For a first official release, it is one of the most disciplined works of the year in the field.
See also: Hrafnablót – Svartigaldur | Escumergamënt – Apparebat Eidolon Senex.
