There are certain bands (such as Darkthrone, whose latest release we reviewed last week) that rarely actually need reviews such is the consistent quality of their output and the devotion of their fan base. The Aborted are one such band – not only do they rarely lapse in quality but, in fairness, music this extreme is unlikely to move beyond the boundaries of the group’s rabid fans and one can imagine this doesn’t trouble them overmuch either. Nonetheless, it is a review you are here for and a review you shall get.
Opening with a creepy sample promising evisceration, Coronary Reconstruction’s title track is a promising blast of high speed metal, none-more-brutal vocals and some of the best drumming this side of Dave Lombardo. What immediately hits home, though, is the ludicrous clarity it’s all been captured in. Packing a punch the Terminator would be proud of, the drums crash around you and the slayer-esque solo in the bridge are rendered with utter, sickening clarity. It’s brutal stuff and not for the faint of heart, with its napalm death grunts and helium-fuelled screeches sending all but the hardiest of reviewers running for cover. Having got over the sheer joy of the first track, it’s good to discover that the quality is maintained on the hurricane of noise that is ‘from a tepid whiff’, a track so violent it makes Exodus sound like the Levellers, yet still possessed of a mighty groove that sees you banging your head till you accidentally lobotomise yourself. ‘Grime’ is equally brutal, with vocals seemingly performed by an 18 foot high Pig on steroids. It’s an unforgiving set that pulverises the innards with clinical efficiency.
‘A cadaverous dissertation’ has an awesome riff and sees the band liberally peppering solos over the track highlighting that despite the brutality and speed this is also a band that can play their instruments damn well when it takes their fancy. Final track ‘left hand path’, which opens with the sound of a truly despairing soul screaming and a glorious, if short-lived, solo, arrives too soon and spares no opportunity to rip the listener a new one over the course of its six minute run time.
There is no low point to this EP to speak of apart from the fact that it leaves you desperate for more, and every track hits its bloody mark like one of Robin Hood’s arrows. This is brutal, firey stuff that burns like napalm upon contact thanks to a glorious sound mix and a set of songs which are uniformly excellent examples of their genre. While this is undoubtedly a niche market (I contemplated playing a track to my Gran and then thought better of it bearing in mind her age and the shock it could cause), for those who revel in fast, hard and nasty metal, The Aborted have everything you could ever want. Outstanding.
