At face value, Mittags-Abgrund appear to be an act after my own heart. Their name—which translates from German approximately to “Midday Abyss”—references what else but Thus Spoke Zarathustra (though the lyrics are penned in progenitor Sch.’s native Russian). Promo material even contains the source quote where Zarathustra proclaims with a kind of prophetic joy, “when, O well of eternity! you serene and ghastly midday-abyss! when will you drink my soul back into you?”¹ This epigraph, in conjunction with artwork depicting a ringlike serpent surrounding a dramatically rent sky, points towards the theme of Eternal Recurrence, an idea that forms the philosophical center of the book and which is to many an important piece of Nietzsche’s thought overall.² But it’s one whose true relevance to the music of Mittags-Abgrund is ultimately vague. Mittags-Abgrund have me on side immediately, but can the music win over its audience in the same way?

Mittags-Abgrund play a style of blackened death that strays just occasionally outside of the lines separating second-wave and melo-black into the territory of dissonant and even old-school death. Bookended by instrumentals that progress from acoustics into something more like atmo-black, its main body is characterised by an almost grandiose, ugly heaviness that quickly recalls Absu, Immortal, and Sch.’s own Cmpt. Sch. pulls from several places across the spectrum of vocal styles in this sphere: croaking, growling, snarling, and chanting in more or less equal measure. Guest musician F takes charge of percussion in a performance that begins as quite standard, but becomes noticeably more complex and dynamic as the record progresses. So does the rest of the music, as the largely unremarkable black metal evolves and we get more overt signs of Sch.’s history in hardcore brutal death metal groups (“Пой со мной (Грусть в глазах бога) ,” “Паруса крыльев простёрты”); there are even a few toe-dips into more experimental territory (“В городе”).

Mittags-Abgrund could hardly match the profundity of its possible inspiration, but killer riffs and a dramatic atmosphere can make up for that to some extent. These aren’t abundant. The former mostly come in the form of fleeting dissonant scales (“Портреты моих предков”) and arpeggios that dance snakelike above the stalwart barrages (“Высокомерие над пропастью червей”), guitars otherwise persisting in less colourful repetitions. This dominant multi-influence style of blackened death can be gnarly and thrilling when it wants to be (“Высокомерие над пропастью червей,” “Паруса крыльев простёрты”), and the increasing degree of fluctuations and flourishes in the drumming gives a notable edge to proceedings (“Паруса крыльев простёрты,” “Ignis Subterraneus”). The inconsistency of such edges is therefore a pity, the cause of an uneven listening experience requiring patience and close attention to achieve a questionable reward. When not confined to forceful vocal reverb, atmosphere via synths and spaciousness help the music reach some vaguely epic heights (“Aurora Consurgens”) and nuanced spooky pensiveness (“В городе”) I wouldn’t have minded hearing more of and wish were blended better and earlier on with the heavier instrumentation.

Mittags-Abgrund also perplexes in certain compositional and mixing choices. The music varies in volume depending on the dominant element, with lead guitars typically drawing the short straw except for a few notable occasions on which they appear with particular prominence. This is frustrating when they carry melodic lines and would develop the mood and add tangible layers if they were more audible. Speaking of layers, the use of vocal multitracking takes that idea to a literal extreme with interpolations of growls and wails that distract rather than enrich the progression of the piece (“Паруса крыльев простёрты,” “В городе”). It is nonetheless possibly better than the dominant croak that rapidly grew grating without a sufficiently wild or engrossing soundscape—which would have been improved with louder leads and better atmospheric integration. The album feels overall like an odd dichotomy between hastily combined flirtation with more original musical elements and dry unremarkability, with too little cohesiveness outside of the latter’s tendency to obscure what’s actually good.

Not for the first time do I find myself lamenting the missed opportunity of a Nietzschean-themed album. Mittags-Abgrund shows glimmers of greatness, but these are close to invisible in the midst of ostensibly heavy and dramatic music one struggles to give adequate attention to. With a better mix, stronger leads, and more confident strides into the unusual shades Mittags-Abgrund display a fondness for, there’s potential. Is it the worst thing an unreserved Amor Fati would have to embrace in embracing the necessity of the totality?³ Absolutely not. But the blend of broadly unstirring blackened death metal and irresolute explorations remains disappointing as they are.

Rating: Disappointing
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320kbps mp3
Label: Darkness Shall Rise
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: September 15th, 2026

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