Extreme Metal band ABYSSIC formed in Norway in 1997, originally called ABYSSIC DREAMS. They re-formed many years later as ABYSSIC, and this is their third album which contains five songs. "Cold as Winter Storm" is the first. Symphonic elements are noticeable first, followed by a heavy guitar riff. The vocals indicate the Black and Doom Metal sound. Deep and guttural at first, they are followed by delicate ambient moments, and the sound is both rich and stocked. The vocals rise in key to raging moments, and taken as a whole, the conceptual elements are quite well developed.

"Chronicle of the Dead" has a horrid opening of deadly funeral sounds, followed by some delicate melodies, especially from the piano. "You look so beautiful" he croons, perhaps staring down at her corpse. Some people believe that their loved ones look beautiful in death, suspended in state. Rage rises and falters...perhaps the subject is wrestling with his grief. "Mirror of Sorrow" has a more imposing sound out of the gates, and heavy with symphonic elements. The last thing that anyone wants from looking in the mirror is to feel bad. The vocals are absolutely harrowing and speak of death and dying with each extended breath. He yells "sorrow" and you can feel the energy leaving your body until you are white with numbness. The ending sequence is quite charming however.

"Djevelens Lys" begins with a full display of sonority in every instrument and in the vocals. From there, it descends slowly into the abyss, getting darker and warmer with each step. The ambient moments are when there is a pause in his steps, until the fires roar up and swallow him with a swelling of sound. The evil elements are on full display. The beastly title track closes the album, at just under 19-minutes in length. "Iniquity" means "immoral or grossly unfair behavior," and that's just what this song is...immoral. The subject is put through several hours of torture, with techniques and instruments that you can't even imagine. Hours turn to days, days turn to weeks, and weeks turn to months, as his desperate please to end his life become all that he is obsessed with.

This was a woefully depressing album, where each note and instrument fit into the story like a round peg into a round hole. The symphonic and ambient moments provide passages of pure beauty, making the weighted and brutal moments even more alive. Talk about an album that can consume you, and this is it. You are swallowed hole to live out the end of your days in total blackness, and completely alone.