ABYSMAL GRIEF
Despise The Living, Desecrate The Dead (Test press)

ABYSMAL GRIEF's classic debut EP, Mors Eleison, on CD format for the first time ever.

ABYSMAL GRIEF should require little introduction. Since 1996, the band have prolifically maintained their position as Italy's foremost purveyors of traditional doom. Originally released in 2006 on vinyl, Mors Eleison followed a handful of demos and split releases; as such, it was ABYSMAL GRIEF's first stand-alone pro recording just prior to their classic self-titled album in 2007. Even this early on, their sulfurous magick was a beyond-heady brew that was simply impossible to deny. Sure, they embodied all the sonic/aesthetic traits otherwise associated with "doom," but it was the gothic horror (and sometimes, just straight-up gothiness) that really put ABYSMAL GRIEF into a class all their own, deeper and deeper into virtual and literal DOOM, and arguably here on Mors Eleison is where it first truly took flight...or is that depth(s)? Punning conundrums aside, the band also really underlined their grand lineage - and oddball uniqueness - with a cover of granddaddy Paul Chain's "Occultism" as well as the frequent excursions into crypt-dwelling ambient soundscapes. Also included in this new (and, we feel, definitive) version is the rare video for "Dies Funeris." Enter the crypt again, or for the first time!

Some things are just supposed to happen. Avantgarde Music and Abysmal Grief have been on this earth for almost three decades, dealing with the dark and obscure, and only miles apart. Yet, they never worked together. Until now.

Despise The Living, Desecrate The Dead is a compilation of “outtakes, oddities and unused material from the period 2016-2021” marking the beginning of the cooperation between the record label from Milan and the long-standing occult metal band from Genoa. In the words of guitarist Regen Graves, Despise The Living… contains “songs recorded and mixed in our studio along the last few years, with different line-ups, that for a number of reasons were never included in previous releases”. Among these are covers of obscure, dark Italian bands of old, a doom metal rework of a funeral march from the ‘50s, and of course a number of new Abysmal Grief songs.