Aborted‘s new album TerrorVision pulls death metal out of the mire and into the light. Casting aside all the wanna-be bands pulling the genre down into a spiral of the same sound with the same muddy riffs and the same old ‘we just invented death metal yesterday’ attitude. This album is a great new benchmark for this style. It represents a lot of what you expect to hear when you grab yourself a new release from a death metal band that has been around the traps long enough to know what their fans want to hear, with the fanbase to prove it. Choppy, unrelenting, precise, lyrically graphic, haunting & completely over the top. The guitarists, Ian and Mendel conjure an impenetrable wall of sound, with Ken’s drums cutting through the mix like a hot chainsaw through butter. The low end is thick and creamy, as all death metal should be. The vocals are excellent, from low-end gutter-throat voices to high-pitched, demonic screams from beyond the void, Sven reminds us all why he has been very much the heart, soul & driving force behind the band throughout the years.
The mix on the album is efficient, to say the least, with everything pumping out clean, bright and defined. The speed and tenacity of the music speak highly of the musician’s abilities and raw skill. The solos on this album are fucking awesome, as a lot of death metal solos tend to get lost with the focus on over-playing, neglecting melody and direction. The drums shift between merciless blast beats, hammering thrash-outs to complex, yet groovy rhythms seamlessly. I was lucky enough to see these guys come through my hometown as I was reviewing the album, getting a chance to see how the new songs translate life, the ultimate test of any new work for any new or existing artist or band. They do their job perfectly, ruling the roost with an iron fist. The newer tracks fit perfectly in the groove of their existing catalogue, expressing the same fury and showing an ability to expand on what they already do. Anyone who loves goregrind, death metal or indeed any extreme music will find this new release thoroughly entertaining. You will not experience buyer’s remorse with this purchase.
The song titles are also worth a mention, as they have made an effort to mix style with imagery quite well. Overall, this whole album is great, stand out tracks for me was the title track, Terrorvision, Vespertine Decay and Deep Red. This Belgian five-piece has once again firmly cemented itself as a stand-out within this genre of music, reminding us why they’ve managed to stick out the hard yards for 19 years and come back for more. No easy feat in itself these days, in an already flooded market. With plenty of riffages, expertise, and heavy-handed brutality on offer, go out and indulge yourself in this entertaining new release promptly. Cheers, boys!
Aborted: Facebook
Release Year: 2018
Label: Century Media Records
Category: Album
Country: Belgium
Reviewed by Whiskey Jones
