UMUR
"The Archaic Abattoir" is the 4th full-length studio album by Belgian death metal act Aborted. The album was released in April 2005 by Listenable Records. I´ve had good experiences listening to the band´s three previous album releases, but they haven´t left me with an unstoppable craving for more. "The Archaic Abattoir" was the album that changed my perspective on Aborted.
While "The Archaic Abattoir" is at its core still a brutal death metal album with goregrind elements, just like the three predecessors, Aborted have incorporated lots of details, some melodic solos and catchy memorable riffs into their core sound, which makes "The Archaic Abattoir" a much more digestable and intriguing album than the earlier releases by the band. Lead vocalist Sven de Caluwé uses two different vocal styles on the album. One deep growling vocal style and one higher pitched and fiercely aggressive vocal style. Much like the vocal style on "Necroticism-Descanting the Insalubrious (1991)" by Carcass. The tempo varies between fast and blasting but there are mid-paced groove based sections too. The gory lyrical themes haven´t changed much and we´re still met with titles like "The Gangrenous Epitaph", "Voracious Haemoglobinic Syndrome" and "Gestated Rabidity". Of course the cover artwork also gives that away.
The album has a full playing time of 36:26 minutes and that´s perfect for this kind of music. The 10 tracks on the album all deliver relentless brutality, aggressive vocals but what´s most important hooks that make you remember the songs. "The Archaic Abattoir" takes a few listens to settle in your head, but once it does the songs begin to stand out from each other and you´ll recognise details and elements in the songs. Now that´s how I like my death metal. Not too easy to digest but with a focus on lasting memorability. "The Archaic Abattoir" deserves a 4 star rating and if you are interested in an introduction to Aborted, I can highly recommend that you start here.