Abscission refers to the natural detachment of a part of a plant, like shedding its leaves or dropping ripe fruit as the seasons change from autumn to winter. Behind those dropped leaves and the realised catharsis of death there is new growth waiting to happen, a necessary removal of the old in order to proceed anew and forge forward in times of strife. Torpor take this idea and spread it across a vast textural sludge ridden landscape, using doom, post-rock, and ambient elements along the way; they surge toward the springtime, whilst documenting the dormant nature of autumn and winter, just like the plants and trees that surround us.
We’ve been spinning Rhetoric of the Image for a few years now, eagerly awaiting the return of Torpor to cure our itch for more crushing atmospheric sludge that pounds us into oblivion and we finally have it in the form of Abscission. The Bristol 3-piece have recorded another granitine slab of music, this time over 5 days at Giant Wafer studios in the secluded Welsh countryside, a location which has definitely had an effect on the outcome of the latest record.
No where on this record is there a heavier example of what Torpor bring to the table than the track ‘Accidie’ characterised by it’s dragging, hammering doom riffs, the track reflects its name as it ponderously lurches towards it’s partner track ‘Carbon’, replete with screaming pain and harrowing feedback. These two tracks seem to reflect the nature of the record as a whole, whilst one trogs it’s way through our brain, allowing us to contemplate the darker side of nature, the latter allows for a release of the pent up frustration that is built during the former.
“Abscission does a near perfect job of creating an atmosphere of hope, renewal and rebirth, alongside catharsis, death and withering.”
Once again Torpor have captured the tortured yet powerful vocals of Jon Taylor, across the whole record their tortured howls punctuate the often sparse guitar work. And when we say sparse we don’t mean barely there, in fact the band seem to have found the magical point where by sometimes doing very little they make their sound into this huge monolithic being of it’s own. ‘Island of Abandonment’ is the perfect example of this, it is as though the first half of the track is there to bring into existence the second, the massive chords and heavy drumming crushing everything in front of it into dust, in preparation for the low dangerous growling of the strings and rebirthing effect of choral like vocals of the second half. In a way it is as though the destructive and deathly nature of winter is brought to life, only to pass the torch over to the renewal and rebirth of spring time.
This is the leanest release from Torpor yet, and easily their most fully realised. The drumming is thunderous yet creative, the bass and guitar work seems as though they have summoned golems made of the very earth itself to make music for them, all capped off by the banshee-like screeches and demonic growls of the vocals. Abscission does a near perfect job of creating an atmosphere of hope, renewal and rebirth, alongside catharsis, death and withering. The juxtaposition of these seemingly oxymoronic themes are brought together in seamless harmony to create a piece of art that is both challenging and freeing at the same time.