Abysmal Dawn

Leveling the Plane of Existence (Relapse)
By Mike Delano

If you’re gonna title your album Leveling the Plane of Existence, you should probably have some serious scorched-Earth anthems to back up such a badass set of italics. Los Angeles’ Abysmal Dawn doesn’t quite display the fangs necessary to deliver on the bold claim of their third full-length title, but they’ve got the ability, so maybe we’ll get a leveling out of them sometime in the future (existence permitting). On these 10 songs, though, it’s pretty standard death metal without much to separate the band from the pack. “Perpetual Dormancy” has an intriguing, slow-burning menace to it, while the guitar fireworks that pop up here and there are the real highlight, whether on the excellent second half of “Rapture Renowned,” or on the lean, fearsome “Manufactured Humanity.” It all sounds good and the record has a nice flow to it, but too often it feels as if something’s being held back. There’s an aggression lurking in the background of these songs that hasn’t been fully unleashed. For now, consider the plane of existence just slightly perturbed.
(www.relapse.com)