Review by Michael on January 24, 2022.

The Funeral Pyre was one of the biggest surprises in the melodic black / death metal scene in 2020 because of its fierce but nevertheless quite harmonic melodies so I was very much excited when I got the news that Swedish one-man project Kvaen (with Jacob Björnfot (ex-The Duskfall) behind it) is going to release another album called The Great Below. Jacob Björnfot created this album together with session drummer Tommi Tuhkala and just like he had on The Funeral Pyre he has a lot of guest appearances on this album of course. This time around he's got an illustrious guest list incuding Mathias “Vreth” Lillmåns (Finntroll), Angus Norder (Witchery), Sebastian Ramstedt (Necrophobic), Mike Wead (King Diamond) or Jeff Loomis (Arch Enemy, ex-Nevermore). That sounds quite promising in my humble opinion.

But now enough of the namedropping, let's check the physical album for real: northern lights and a somewhat demonic person staring at a vast northern landscape on the cover invite the listener to the musical journey and I have a feeling its going to be a real wild one. The album starts with 'Cauldron Of Plagues' which is a very fast and aggressive beast. The guitar leads are in the style of the good old 90s Swedish black metal and the drums are fast as hell. Jacobs vocals sound very aggressive and pissed-off. The atmospheric keyboards create a very unique atmosphere though and this won't let you down listening to the album. Though I don't want to go on track by track, I have to mention the second piece which is also the title track. If you know the guitar work of Jeff Loomis, you can clearly recognize his participation on this song from the very first second. I guess his guitar solos really fit perfectly into the track which is also very fast paced and catchy. From its general structures it reminds me quite a lot of 'Revenge By Fire' from Kvaen's debut. There are some more of these fast tracks in the Dissection style on the album which are really impressive. 'Your Mighty Has Fallen' convinces with nice breaks and tempo changes and 'The Fire Within Him Burns' appears with a nice piano intro / outro and a very casual guitar solo that may be inspired by some classical compositions.

But Kvaen also shows a second face on The Great Below. Sometimes they make a halt and focus more on a dark atmosphere like in 'In Silence' or 'Ensamvarg' (“The Lone Wolf”). Both songs come along very oppressive and threatening and make the album even more varied. The guitar leads, the tremolo picking and the acoustic part in 'In Silence' sound pretty brilliant and feature the backbone of these tracks. 'Ensamvarg' is even more outstanding because of the very epic keyboard sound that emphasizes this special atmosphere.

The lyrics are also really worth mentioning. They became very dark on this album (which of course matches perfect with the music) and they have lots of personal meaning. So if you are interested in discovering more about words on this album, it is not only about the dark and evilness but it also has a quite metaphysical level that one may find here, too.

I dare to say that there are no fillers but only killers on this album. When listening to it I always wonder how is it that the album is already through after such a perceived short time (total running time is 39 minutes) and so I have to admit that the music is very diverting. I think that all the compositions are really thoughtfully arranged and that the band did a top album in that musical style in 2022. I would say that this is an essential album for all black /death metal fans out there!

Rating: 9.5 out of 10 lone wolves

Review by Adam M on July 20, 2025.

This album had a remarkable impact when it came out because it introduced progressive elements to the black metal mix and was in itself an interesting album.  It is very poignant and well performed progressive music that has a nice atmosphere to it.  The album is very much forward-thinking black metal akin to Enslaved and a nice element for the future.  It is a bit more caustic in nature, but still very avant-garde.

The musicianship is great with strong playing and a nice use of dynamics to make for a complete listen.  Though not as immediately impressive as Enslaved’s best material, this album takes a bit longer to take its full effect on the listener.  It is a slow burner and meant for an intelligent audience.  Those willing to put in the time will be rewarded with a nice atmospheric use of guitars and other instrumentation.

This album is flawed in its use of a sound that has its limitations.  The music could be made more Viking in nature like Enslaved and could be emphasized in its heavier moments more greatly.  It simply drifts by and does not grip you as much as it could.  But still this is a strong album for a more modern type of audience.

In conclusion, this is a very solid and well-defined album that has the right amount of complexity to please, but also a solid emotional effect as well.  Fans of bands with a forward-thinking type of aspect will be highly impressed by what is to be found here.

Rating: 7.5/10

Review by Lawrence Stillman on October 9, 2024.

After the phenomenal debut that is Illuminate The Path, An Abstract Illusion returns with another banger six years later. This album from them marks another masterpiece, blending atmospheric black metal with the speed, production, and songwriting conventions of progressive death metal. While it borrows many of the tropes that atmospheric/progressive extreme metal bands used, they manage to put their own spin on those same tropes, creating something very unique and special.

The album seems to walk the same path that Ne Obliviscaris and Edge Of Sanity treaded, from the blend of non-stop intensity brought on by their instruments to the fact that this album is 7 songs tied together as an hour-long epic (just not lyrically). Despite that, no songs here sound identical, nor do they repeat the same structures, which is a criticism I had with Crimson 1. The songs here are full of blast beats with some calmer, subdued sections in between to give the listener a breather before drowning them in another round of blast beats and guitars. But these blast beats do not sound aggressive or threatening; instead, they sound cathartic and hypnotizing, which is something rarely done right by atmospheric metal bands. It gave the album a much more solemn and melancholic feel, which is sorely needed in the genre.

One thing I like about the album is the use of keyboards. In this album, they serve as a more hidden presence that feeds the listener with atmospheric passages, but occasionally they also give us some lead melodies when the guitars are not in play. While not to the extent of keyboard magic like Regnum Caelorum Et Gehenna, it is still quite enjoyable since the main show is focused on guitars, bass, vocals, and drums. Speaking of drums, the blast beats here dominated most of the album's run time, which is an increase from the previous album, where they sounded closer to old Opeth. While this type of instrumentation can be found on Ne Obliviscaris, it does remove most of the problems I have with Ne Obliviscaris' approach to their musicianship when combined with blast beats, and most of their music just does not mesh well with blast beats. But here they absolutely do blend well, and what a combo that is. The guitars here are drowned in post-rock and shoegaze effects, which gives it a layer of atmosphere that so many atmospheric metal bands lacked while not sacrificing the guitar melodies that are driving the song forward. The bass here is quite buried when the guitars are in play and thus drowned out by the wall of sound and effects, but once one of the guitars is removed, it manifests itself to be an excellent tone-setting piece with its grinding bass creating a droning sound for the keyboards, drums, and vocals to ride on.

While it was not my AOTY 2022, it was very close to taking that spot. It lacked Mogari's varying insanity and the myriad of emotions it can evoke through its songs and storytelling, which made it stand head and shoulders above most extreme metal records. But when taken as a culmination of what Edge Of Sanity and Ne Obliviscaris do best, it definitely did an excellent job at creating a new benchmark for atmospheric and progressive death metal, redefining what the genre can do, just as Iapetus did for progressive/melodic death metal in 2019. Kardashev's "Liminal Rite" does not even hold a candle to this album.

Highlights: 'Tear Down This Holy Mountain', 'In The Heavens Above, You Will Become A Monster', 'This Torment Has No End, Only New Beginnings'

Rating: 10 out of 10