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The first impression of this CD-r was that the name is typed in three different ways in the covers… “Onwards, Towards The Abyss”, “Onwards… Towards The Abyss” and “Onwards… Towards, The Abyss”. Yes, it is petty, but this just seems rather unprofessional, and made me a bit skeptical about the contents of the CD-r.

And I am glad to say, that my skepticism was in vain, for this is actually quite good. The booklet describes this as Dark Ritualistic Ambient, although I don’t find this to be especially ritualistic, more like “Dark Meditative Ambient”. The minimalistic soundscapes consist of various unobtrusive sounds and noises, which meld into one, forming an obscure layer of sound, upon which the tolling of bells creates a layer of something more tangible, which contrasts the more obscure sounds well.

Not much happens throughout the recording, which is nearly 45 minutes long, but that is not a bad thing; where most would almost certainly fail to keep the music interesting for so long, Den Avgrund has managed to create in “Onwards, Towards The Abyss…” a recording which doesn’t feel too long at all, nor too minimalistic. In fact, it could have been even more minimalistic. At some places, some higher and louder sounds/effects have been added (at least at ca. 20 minutes, 25 minutes and at the “climax” in the end); in my opinion, these break the atmosphere and concentration somewhat, thus actually detracting a bit from the whole.

Overall, though, “Onwards, To The Abyss…” is quite good. I find some reference-points, mainly in atmosphere/mood and not so much in musical expression, to Exotoendo, and whilst I do like Exotoendo more than this, I would definitely recommend “Onwards, To The Abyss” to anyone who is looking for suitably dark, calm and unobtrusive meditation-music.