Abyssal Rift emerges from the bowels of hell with its debut-full length monstrosity, "Extirpation Dirge", a thirty six-minute miasmatic behemoth of dark and antihuman death-doom conceived by Columbus, Ohio-based multi-instrumentalist Matt Auxier (of industrial acts 6th Circle and Ash Prison) handling all instruments, songwriting and recording, with the exception of drums (performed and recorded remotely by David Mahony of Irish black/grind terrorists Unyielding Love).
A hint of things to come has been given by Decibel Magazine, who in premiering the track “The Scourge” have remarked how “some of the best death metal is experimental but still straightforward, striking a balance that comes easily to few. Abyssal Rift achieve just that with this record.” - you can hear the track and check out the feature HERE.
Abyssal Rift is the manifestation of Auxier's long-running history as a metalhead and of his extensive appreciation (parallel to that for industrial music) for dark and atmospheric death metal bands like Incantation, Disembowelment and Immolation as well as for 60's and 70's prog bands like Goblin, King Crimson, Eloy, and Amon Düül II, which in the context of his expertise and knowledge as a producer and home studio owner, has yielded a dense and disorienting dark death metal beast shrouded in surreal atmospheres and an hallucinatory form of dirge-like experimentalism. An all-devouring obfuscation of abyssic crush depth, "Extirpation Dirge" seems horizonless and bottomless as it propagates and gravitates downward like a churning maelstrom, alternating moments of obliterating machine-like dark death metal destruction to others of misery-torn doom and cinematic widescreen experimentalism, with dense synth work alternating contemplative passages of clean guitars and ominous presages of spectral dark ambience.
"Extirpation Dirge" is slated for a December 1 2023 release date on LP, MC, CD, digital formats worldwide via Sentient Ruin.
Abyssal Rift started in Columbus, Ohio, started in 2022. The brainchild of multi instrumentalist Max Auxier (6th Circle, Ash Prison). While primarily known as an industrial musician/producer, Abyssal Rift is the manifestation of Auxier’s long running history as a metalhead and fan of warped, abysmal death metal, particularly that of bands like Incantation, Immolation and Disembowelment, and of his lengthy experience as a music producer. Conceived within his Columbus OH home studio during the COVID pandemic, the band’s debut album “Extirpation Dirge” features Auxier has sole songwriter, also handling all guitars, basses, vocals and keys/synths on the album, with only the drum parts being outsourced to seasoned grindcore drummer (David Mahony of Unyielding Love). The tracks were then sent to Will Killingsworth of Dead Air for mix/master, completing Abyssal Rift’s debut abomination “Extirpation Dirge”, a thirty six-minute behemoth of abyssic, dark death metal shrouded in hallucinatory atmospheres and broken up by desolate, slow-crawling dark ambient-infused doom dirges. As a long time Sentient Ruin artist via his industrial projects 6th Circle and Ash Prison, Auxier joined the label’s ranks also with Abyssal Rift, and “Extirpation Dirge” saw the light in late 2023. At the same time Auxier began recruiting other musicians in the Columbus area to assemble a live lineup for the band and bring Abyssal Rift to a stage.