It’s kind of odd. I don’t really understand why Irish outliers Abaddon Incarnate don’t seem to get as much love as they clearly deserve. But with five albums since 1994 I think it’s safe to say that they fit the word ‘stalwarts’ pretty well. Maybe they’re too grind for the black/death metal scene, too death for the grindcore scene and have lyrical concerns spanning all of them.

Whatever, this is their sixth full length and sporting a neat cover too. It opens with ‘Rise Of The Lights’ which is a perfect distillation of their hybrid sound; absolutely ripping. Grindcore speeds, death metal low end grunt, raging vocals, massive drum assault and a keening, melodic hook rising from this wind tunnel of noise. Clearly this is a fine production for their sound too with a beautiful mix that delivers that drive and lets the razor edges slice through. ‘Veritas’ is even more pacy if anything; again driven by the huge drums its pure blast. ‘Gateways’ has an almost thrashy edge mixed into the atmospheric death metal slower passages. Finely judged changes and just a memorable riff make this blistering.

They can and do vary things too. ‘Parasite’ for example is really a belligerent stomp, a choppy drum beat and gnarly riff and winding guitars. ‘Into The Maelstrom’ is, besides spectacular, a bestial howl of black metal styling and atmosphere with the most jaw dropping chaos falling into an eerie fade out. Brilliant. They can even do a seven-minute epic in ‘Isolation And Decay’ with twists of tricky, almost progressive guitar runs and then slow lingering looping melody and pulsing bass.

I really can’t oversell how great this production sounds. It just rips and blasts without burying the parts. We get some neat bass lines, the sharp melody rising above the thumping great drums and guitars. The vocals too are varied and full of fire and bile and still the overall effect is of a huge ball of chaos hitting you full force.

Thirteen tracks, thirty-six minutes of hyperchaos, rage and directed obliteration capable of turning bricks to dust. It’s frankly a masterclass in utter destruction from Abaddon Incarnate. A masterclass.

Revel in it.

(8.5/10 Gizmo)

https://www.facebook.com/abaddonincarnate

https://abaddonincarnateband.bandcamp.com/album/the-wretched-sermon-grindcore-death-metal