Aborted : "Vault of Horrors"

 Belgium's death metal maniacs are back. Their new album has some or some band guesting on each song. The opening track which is a Hyperspeed fest, that fans of this brand of death metal should enjoy, features, Shadow of Intent's Ben and Chris. So extra growls and shredding. The sweep-picked fret fury is more melodic than expected. I normally do not like technical over-produced death metal and prefer mind darker and more organic, but the first song is so good at what it does that it wins me over. this occurrence is not uncommon in most forms of extreme metal, where it is so heavy it bowls your ever with intensity and does not give you time to stop and analyze if they can write a decent song. 

Then the plight of this kind of thing is further exploited as after being punched by the initial blast of sound, you are numbed out to the assault that follows on the second song, and everything begins to sound the same. Fleshgod Apocalypse's vocalist lending his growl to the song does not change matters. What does help is when the band grooves more on "Brotherhood of Sleep" Johnny from Angelmaker, lends his growls to this one, which is effective, as they vary a bit from just gutturals. The vocalist from Despised Icon, snarls a bit on "Death Cult" which benefits from more thoughtful songwriting. Former Abigail Williams drummer Ken Bedene who has been sitting behind the kit for these guys since 2012, continues to bring the good and is the hardest-working member of this band.    

Cryptopsy's growler joins them for "Hellbound" which is a relentless speed fest that blasts by in a rabid blur. I know nuance is not what this kind of death metal is known for, but a dash might do them some good. If you are into guitar solos this one is worth paying attention to. Ingested's Jason Evans gets brutal for the more grindcore-like explosion that is "Insect Politics". Hal from Engulf appears in "The Golgothan". If you like what goes down here it might be worth checking out Engulf's new album as well. Lyrically things are supposed to be based on horror movies., and while there are speculations as to what song aligns with what movies, I have not heard the official word from the band so I am not going to speculate. 

Oliver from Archspire guests on "The Shape of Hate". The song is so rapid-fire it does not leave any t time to grab on to any riff. The vocal performance works but also feels rushed. Another banger if guitar solos are your main focus. By this point in the album, the fast playing has exhausted  The growler from Signs of the Swarm, is doing what he does. I liked the album Signs of the Swarm released last year, so I am not opposed to this sort of thing. The last song finds Ricky Hoover of Ov Sulphur, bringing yet another growl to the party. It has been an interesting experiment trying to distinguish these varied growls and hear who is showing up to the mic with something new, though it tends to be rather uniform. I will give this one a 7.5, as it all kinds sounds the same, some songs are more effective but the shift in dynamics is pretty marginal,. Chances are if you are into this sort of thing you just want it to be in your face, but I am not going to suggest rounding it up, as even if this sound is your jam, I am not sure what fresh ideas are being involved from a songwriting experience. At this point when I see someone wearing an Aborted shirt I am going to assume they just like generic modern death metal. 

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HIDEOUS DIVINITY : "Adveniens"

There is not question this Italian death metal band knows how to blend their technical skill with convincing brutality. The first song steam rolls you, then the second song they eventually give you the hooky chant to latch onto. These guys know what they are doing. This album sounds massive and while this is not my favorite form of death metal I like the sound they are hitting me with. WIth members of Aborted and Hour of Penance on their ranks the 3rd album is dialed in to the max. "Passages" they begin to get a little mired down in the huge sound and at one point I think I am listening to another song when we haven't gone anywhere. They continue to throw a lot at you on "Angel of Revolution" and at times this kind of playing even hits the velocity that it sounds rushed.  At times it reminds me of "Legion" era Deicide if they took a bunch of meth and couldn't concentrate on the verse chorus format. I like the use of samples on "Feeding off the Blind".

There is a touch of Morbid Angel about this whole album, but filtered through more of  modern metal attack, it's more like post- David Vincent Morbid Angel on "When Flesh Unfolds". "Future in Red" catches my ear again, but the song before it blasted by in a blur that I did not even feel the need to pay attention to. "Embodiment of Chaos" really doesn't divert drastically from the carnage filled oath they have already paved. If you have gone the entire album with out noticing the drummer is a monster of a machine then his cyborg nature can no longer be denied . In fact that is probably him on the album cover.  Guitar wise they don't feel the need to really shred a shit tone, which plays to their favor more guitar solos would just clutter things up. I don't remember if I have really heard that much as far as solos go this entire album which means if they were there they were not memorable.

While these guys are better than most of the tech death metal out their, I'll give this album a 7 as most of these songs sound the same. If you are into this kind of thing then round it up to an 8. This is not what I normally listen to when it comes to death metal thought they pull enough from the classics to make me admit they know what they are doing.



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Aborted : "Retrogore"

It starts just like you might imagine an album by these guys to start. The title track is packed with ripping double bass and gurgled vocals with razor sharp riffing slicing at you from every direction. The higher snarled vocals have a more black metal feel than the lower ones, but these guys are still not blackened anything. There is more melody hidden under this brutality than I expected. They throw every thing at me in the first song, which leaves me to ask ...ok that was pretty heavy, what else can you do? The answer in the second song is pretty much more of the same, but coming at it from different directions some of the time.There is no question that these guys are masters of their instruments and the shredding solo reaffirms this. "Whoremageddon" might have an awesome title, but the problem a run into with the bulk of death metal begins to set it as it all starts sounding the same and fading into the background. "Termination Redux" begins to redeem them with more of a groove, but it's easy for this to also get lost in the storm.

There is a sense of melody that hangs over the chords, before they shove the riffs down you throat with extreme prejudice on 'Divine Impediment", but it's simplified savagery on "Coven of Ignorance". Then after that point everything becomes a blur of double bass and jagged growls snapping out at you. The drummer is good, but to play this kind of thing you have to be. It would almost be more impressive to hear him hold down a slow groove. When We get to the final song "From Beyond"it's all become a blur and where the double bass meets the chug is obscured by a sonic dust cloud."In Avernus" really doesn't break to much new ground. The melodic elements are resigned to carrying a more atmospheric element.

This is as solid as any new school death metal album that puts the brutality first. They do keep songwriting in a close second so I'l give this one a 7.5. This is not really the kind of death metal that is my thing if you checked out my review of the new Howls of Ebb, you might get a better idea of where I am coming from. If you like new school death metal that's just about the bite then round it up.  They achieve what they set out to accomplish. This album is really well produced and has moments that impress.