Abattoir of Illusions is a pandemic project from London based musician Ciprian Miclaus. A guitarist of 20-plus years, it took a pandemic to finally get Ciprian to put something tangible out. His debut album Madness is focused on the pandemic and the madness it generated. It triggers a re-assessment of who we are and whether we'll be the same again, as in the album’s title song “Madness”, a philosophical question about what's the meaning of life as in “Sisyphus” and “Higher,” a desire to live on “One life” and questions around the mind games played on social media and by the governments, as in the song “Mind Control.” It also covers the artist's pet topics: anti-racism/anti-xenophobia/anti-hate, on the opener “I'm human too” and governmental corruption on “Revolution, baby” and “Killing in your name.” Song themes cover both universal topics and current ones. Very timely in our world’s current state.
“I’m human too” starts off with a fantastic guitar riff – classic, grungy and funky all in one. The rhythm guitar keeps the song’s melody going as the lead plays a tasty solo. I also liked the solid backbone, deep bass and drum sounds keeping it all together. “Revolution, baby” has an even more classic, hard rock sound, like something from the early ‘70s meeting up with a revived rock sound from the ‘90s. Artists like Soundgarden, Black Sabbath and Lenny Kravitz come to mind so far. “Higher” has a more sophisticated ‘70s soul rock approach. Gary Moore or Gerry Rafferty come to mind here, but in a heavier alt-rock style. I really liked the bass line to this one as well as the guitar solo – well done! The opening to “Killing in your name” begins with bombing sounds and explosions and a fantastic metal guitar riff. What I thought made this song unique was that each instrument, including Ciprian’s voice, seemed to be doing its own thing. The drumbeat has this almost electronic dance beat, the bass line is thick and groovy, the guitar is in a metal rock style and the song is sung in this sort of freestyle way. The album’s title track begins with a funky bass line and solid snare beat. The guitar riffs are very classic metal, but with a ‘90s grunge vibe. This one reminded me of Soundgarden in some ways. Let’s hope that after all the world’s ‘madness’ ends, if it does, that we’ll come out on the other side a little wiser, more hopeful and optimistic than ever. Next up is “Many faces” and it’s more low key than most of the album’s other songs. With a moodier style and softer beat, Ciprian sings “Everyone wants to be heard / But no one wants to listen / We think we know all the truth – Truth wears many faces / Not just one / Many faces / not just one, not just yours.” Boy, isn’t that the truth! “Mind control” has a groovy and sly style, and kind of reminded me a bit of Alice in Chains. The best thing governments and social media can do for us “is to open our minds” – and leave us alone a bit more often, too. “Sisyphus” tells the story of the Greek mythological character trying to find the meaning to life’s bigger questions – questions we all have asked ourselves at one time or another. Musically, I found this song’s style on the lighter end of alt rock with catchy pop guitar riffs. The album’s last track “One life” is one of the funkier rock songs which mixes two guitar sounds together and offers some sound advice – “We only live one life / Better make it the best / Be the best you can be / Don’t waste your years away / Make the best of it now / Turn the volume up loud.” I’ll second that! There’s also a great guitar solo to round out the tune. Abattoir of Illusions’ Madness, offers solid rhythms and guitar solos, smooth and groovy bass lines and timely lyrics. What I would have liked to hear instead of a drum machine, is a real drum set. But with that said, I thought the mixing of the vocal and instruments were well done.
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