Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Aborted
Label: Century Media
Release: 2008
Less than two full years after Slaughter & Apparatus: A Methodical Overture (2007), Belgian outfit Aborted are already back with a fresh new release, this time called Strychnine.213. If last year’s album served up a decent mix of old-school, brutal Aborted death metal and more modern melodic touches that at times recalled the cult heroes Carcass (the legendary Carcass frontman Jeff Walker even guested on it), Strychnine.213 is nothing more than the abortion of an unwanted child.
Once the record spins through its good half hour, it’s hard to believe this is the same band that put out the excellent Goremageddon and Engineering the Dead. Strychnine.213 is a truly lousy attempt at blending brutality and melody, and if the guys are taking cues from Carcass, they should know that only the fathers of gore/grind metal and melodic death metal pulled that off to perfection, on the cult classic Heartwork. The Belgians’ new album is nothing but a heap of generic death metal riffs that are nothing more than copy-paste jobs of riffs we’ve heard a million times and chewed to death. Even worse, whenever Aborted struggle to mix aggression, brutality and melody, it all sounds like songs randomly stitched together from different parts. The death metal chords are all too often punctured by harmonic and melodic guitar lines blatantly lifted from Gothenburg-style melodic death metal. Sure, they’re pleasant on the ear, but we expected more from Aborted. Then again, what can you expect from a band where the vocalist is the only original member left? Sven de Caluwe is once again the best thing on the album, delivering deep, brutal, beastly growls that are at the same time surprisingly clear and intelligible. Another big minus plaguing Strychnine.213 is the production, which is inexplicably bad for Aborted. The guitar tone is totally washed out, we haven’t heard a more disgusting sound than these triggered bass drums in a long time, and let’s not even mention the snare, which sounds no better than random clicks.
It’s hard to expect anything fresh from death metal these days, since the formula has been more or less played out. But with Strychnine.213, Aborted have hit rock bottom and released the worst album of their career. The record often comes across like a puzzle put together wrong, and unless Cryptopsy release something even worse, Strychnine.213 could be a contender for the worst death metal album of this year.
Line-up
Sven de Caluwe – vocals
Sebastian “Seb Purulator” Tuvi – guitar, vocals
Dan Wilding – drums
Sven Janssens – bass
Tracklist
1. Carrion 01:46
2. Ophiolatry On A Hemocite Platter 04:52
3. I35 03:45
4. Pestiferous Subterfuge 04:24
5. The Chyme Congeries 03:46
6. A Murmur In Decrepit Wits 04:43
7. Enterrement Of An Idol 03:24
8. Hereditary Bane 02:49
9. Avarice Of Vilification 03:35
10. The Obfuscate 04:09
