Archives of the Dead part XVI: Absorb – The Call (Demo 1992)

Archives of the Dead part XVI: ABSORB – The Call (Demo 1992)

Line up: Jochen "Yogy" Steger (drums), Pfisty (guitars), Rainer "Rancey" Panzer (bass), Wom (vocals)

It keeps amazing me how many old death metal bands, which I’ve never heard of before are still there, and which I finally find out about twenty or even more years since they were releasing their demos. Partly it’s because a lot of labels tend to re-release these old death metal recording (of which not all are of the best quality, let’s be honest here!) and partly also because there are some download blogs, which offer many such unknown demos or EPs, even old fanzines, which is great thing, as this way I can check out some absolutely little known bands. And Absorb demo was among those demos, which I decided to check out lately. And damn, “The Call” demo from 1992 is simply fantastic. Of course I never even heard about this band before, never seen this demo anywhere, so it’s really cool to hear it 23 (!) years after its release. As for Absorb, this is a German band, formed in 1989 and back in the old days they also did one more demo “Last Regain” in 1991 and then had a long break, as they split up in 1994 but reformed in 2007, what led to a release of their debut album in 2010. Anyways, I only know “The Call” and as I already mentioned, this is awesome stuff.

In many ways Absorb reminds me another hugely unknown German band, Agoraphobia, whose demos from the early 90’s were also absolutely killer. Both bands perform this sort of thrashing death metal, which to some may sound quite archaic and outdated nowadays, but which has this killer, special and unforgettable sound. And along with Agoraphobia, I could probably compare Absorb to such Morgoth (old!), Sepultura, Pestilence… Anyways, there are seven songs (plus intro / outro) here and damn, I really enjoyed them all. Great aggression, thrashing death metal riffs, crushing with no remorse and quite good, but raw production. Surely Absorb wasn’t creating anything spectacular for those old times, as there were many similar and many better bands. But it’s not really a point here. What rather matters is that this is just great music, with many awesome riffs and such songs as “Enlaced”, “The Call” or “Reflected Images” are simply very, very nice. Also “Out of Control”, as it’s such a good, fast thrashing tune!

Absorb didn’t go far with “The Call”. I don’t know why; if it was due to the overcrowded death metal scene and lack of interest in newer bands or they were simply unlucky. I don’t know, but it’s great that “The Call” was saved from being forgotten and that I could put one more band on my list of worthy old death metal acts. They’re active nowadays, by the way, but I am not sure if that’s good thing or not. It’s important to mention also that Jochen "Yogy" Steger (drums) plays also in band called Delirium Tremens, which I remember from really cool album titled “Thrashing Warthogs”.

Standout tracks: “Enlaced”, “The Call”, “Out of Control”, “Reflected Images”

Final rate: 70/100