Perhaps one of the bigger faces of modern Death Metal are Aborted. From their destructive debut The Purity Of Perversion to their classic Goremageddon and beyond, they have proven their worth time and time again. They’re a band who also appear to not be shy when it comes to new sounds and influences, but is that for the best or the worst? Never scared to create an inclusive Death Metal environment via touring with Deathcore artists and such the band cast their net wide when it comes to gaining new fans. Has the Deathcore influence rubbed off too much in recent years though? Let’s see with their new monumental twelfth full length Vault Of Horrors from Nuclear Blast.
With an instantaneous Deathcore addition comes opening track Dreadbringer. A song notably featuring Ben Duerr of Shadow Of Intent. The synth intro feels very 80s Horror movie and I love it. When the riffs and pounding drums come in at break neck speed there is an instant epic notion. Vocally as one might expect there are flares of Deathcore. That said, it’s not a genre I hate or anything and when surrounded by this kind of manic instrumentation it works very well. Getting on with Condemned To Rot, a slight Deathcore influence persists, but again, I’m not angry. Aborted appear as fresh as ever with this album taking on new heights of almost AOR style Death Metal. Maybe one of the most impressive and enjoyable features is the drumming, absolutely destructive and constant, a real Grind influence there. It would appear every track features a guest of some sort, with Brotherhood Of Sleep featuring Johnny Ciardullo from AngelMaker, who actually elevates the track massively. The reliance on guest musicians is a little disappointing in some respects, but it equally keeps the album from stagnating, perhaps better as an album experience than live? The breakdown, and subsequent hook of Death Cult does two things, firstly it makes me realise that Aborted might be holding onto the pure Death Metal tag by a thread, and secondly it becomes one of the best Aborted tracks I’ve heard in years, with this and Dreadbringer I’m honestly taken back. Aside from all the guest vocalists (who I refuse to keep mentioning, let’s focus on the music itself) it has to be said that the guitars are also fresh in tone, a wide range of sounds are used to culminate an overall all-encompassing Death Metal/core experience.
Insect Politics gives a burst of Grind energy akin to the formative years of Aborted, and as I’m really into Grind at the moment it hits hard. The big arena energy flows through The Golgothan, with yet more memorable hooks, riffs and symphonic portions, is this the future of more mainstream Death Metal to come? Naturom Demonto offers up yet more blistering Death Metal, again laced with a little Deathcore. By the time we reach the end of this record with Malevolent Haze I fear I may just be repeating myself so I will simply close this section of the review by saying, another strong track, and more of the same, pretty damned entertaining.
Maybe one of the best Aborted albums to date, certainly one of my favourites. It proves the bands old reliable status whilst propelling their sound into uncharted territory. I will say though that the heavy reliance on guest vocalists is a touch disappointing, the odd track yes, but the whole album? It begins to become a bit modern Pop music at that point. It’s a minor discrepancy but one worth noting I think. I feel confident in also saying that I think Aborted have finally crossed the border into Deathcore too, so purists beware. It shouldn’t really be any sort of shock of course but it’s worth stating if anyone is thinking of jumping back on board from the early days. On the flipside of this statement though there is a lot for new fans of extreme music to get their teeth into, opening up many paths to follow. A powerful effort from Aborted, and some of the best I’ve heard from them in a good few years.
(8/10 George Caley)
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