### Aborted: The archaic abattoir

#### 11/03/09 || Daemonomania

Here we go with the “aborted” thing again. How many people who are deeply offended by abortion do you think are buying up death metal CD’s? About the same number of religious people who enjoy getting pissed off by firing up some brutal Satanic blastbeat-party. I guess the image sells, so sell the image.

The abortion byproducts in question are from Belgium, and are pretty damn popular these days. This album is most likely why – I remember everyone was talking about either “The archaic abattoir” or Behemoth’s “Demigod” for a while. Believing the hype, your favorite reviewer went out and purchased both. As our friends in Public Enemy have let us know, bad idea.

“Demigod” made a great first impression and the sludgier songs on there continue to rotate in my playlist. The good folks in Aborted, however, seemed a bit confused. See, they started out as a brutal goregrind band who wrote songs about various infections and human organs in a manner that suggests intimacy with forensic science. They then got a bit more death metal into the mix and made a sanguine splash with “Goremageddon”. Smelling blood in the water, the band decided to mix some melody, a dash of ‘core, a few electronic bits, and about 5 new bandmembers into the chum. And the shark of popularity consumed them. Remind you of another band, doesn’t it? Give you a hint, it rhymes with Marcass.

Without having listened to “Goremageddon” or the newer efforts, I’ll just review TAA in a vacuum. There are some killer cuts on here, and the production is as heavy as a modern-day Mike Tyson carrying modern-day Jessica Simpson on his back. Ohhh, snap. Seriously, when these dudes hit the groove button thou shalt groove. Drumming is spot-on, to say the least. Problematically, however, the mix of influences tends to muddle things up. What would have been a killer death-grind cut is suddenly interrupted by some higher pitched snarls and a Swedish melodeath riff. Or a punishing Morbid Angel section with slower guitars turns unexpectedly into an uninteresting blast attack for two minutes. The low vocals are good but a tad anonymous, and the Gremlin-vox are grating.

There is no denying the power of such beasts as “The gangrenous epitaph,” “A cold logistic slaughter,” the massive “Threading on vermilion deception,” and wicked closer “Descend to extirpation.” If the rest of the tunes could kick this much diseased psyopsic cadaveroskillmatatronic esophagus biscuit, we’d have a legitimate classic on our hands. Instead, the first half of the disc really drags and the Antwerp autopsy authorities manage to get a 6 out of 10 for their trouble. The booklet, however, is pretty fuckin’ gross. Won’t add any points for it, but nice job keeping it foul kids.

Oh, and if you’re looking for more influences to mash into your sound, lads, may I suggest your next album be titled “Skaborted”? Go ahead, run with it!

- Information
- Released: 2005
- Label: Listenable
- Website: Aborted MySpace
- Band
- Sven: vocals
- Bart: guitars
- Giles: drums
- Fred: bass
- Thijs: guitars

- Tracklist
- 01. Dead Wreckoning
- 02. Blood Fixing the Bled
- 03. Gestated Rabidity
- 04. Hecatomb
- 05. The Gangrenous Epitaph
- 06. The Inertia
- 07. A Cold Logistic Slaughter
- 08. Threading on Vermillion Deception
- 09. Voracious Haemoglobinic Syndrome
- 10. Descend to Extirpation