Finnish monotonous industrial/black metal hybrid ABSOLUTE KEY is back with his magical and highly anticipated fifth full-length album, "The Third Level of Decay," released on the 21st of December 2022 via Signal Rex.

The first track I'd like to discuss is "Closer, Further," the third piece on the album, which welcomes the listener to a low-fi raw-buzz-feed of guitar distortion with (somewhat) droning beats, ambient keys and inhaling vocals of torment. At the same time, the background as this whitewash/noise atmosphere/soundscape -sends this iciness accepting of death to the listener's ears and soul... The second song for discussion is the sixth (closing piece), "The Third Level of Decay," - where the listener is welcome to cold synths/noise and electro soundscape - with the desire to send a wave of blackened industry chaos of deathly-poetry wanderings through the soul of the listener - this is only the half of the story - I would like to take the opportunity not to discuss any more songs, I leave that to the listener, to witness the rest of this feverish nightmare - a feverish nightmare with lays of complexity within the music - like a labyrinth that grows in the listener's mind - and not forgetting the challenging lyrical concept, that one will find scattered throughout the maze.

ABSOLUTE KEY is an entity of his own - with one flame with two shadows, studying this universe through black metal/noise/industrial chaos and ambient/electro/poetry wanderings. At the same time, "The Third Level of Decay" is a labyrinth that grows in the listener's mind -so play this with an open (door) mind, filled with many twists and turns, layers laden one after another consisting of a bleak and monotonous industrial/black metal hybrid, driven by simple, repetitive drumbeats and cold synths, distorted-buzz guitar riffs and tormenting vocals -altogether a musical spectrum that's blunt, primitive and build on levels, "physical core and spectral", "unconscious, and spiritual"-and that third level, "death of deaths", humming over this all...

"The Third Level of Decay," in my opinion, is a blackened hybrid metal act - soon as pressing that play button - music that feels like unlocking a door with one of seven keys -opening a path into a labyrinth, where the music is blunt, nightmarish, and complex. While the lyrical concept comes from a dream that Antti Klemi had and explained in this dream, "The name of the album refers to a vision I had in a dream. There were three levels of death - the physical, the spiritual, and the final death, where even death is dissolved: no memories, no grieving, no other sides. Just nothing." - one thing is for sure -the deeper one goes within this music, it feels like death is lurking in every dark corner and behind every closed door. If you like your music like death is watching you - don't fear the reaper - this is for you.