UMUR "Fire Walk With Us" is the second full-length studio album by Italian black metal act Aborym. The album was released in January 2001 through Scarlet Records. It´s the successor to "Kali Yuga Bizarre" from April 1999. Attila Csihar (Mayhem, Tormentor, Sinsaenum...etc.) has joined the ranks, after guesting on a couple of tracks on "Kali Yuga Bizarre".

The material on "Fire Walk With Us" is an atmosperic, dark, and pretty intense type of black metal. The drums are programmed, but I´m not sure many listeners would notice that, because the soundscape is as chaotic sounding, layered, and intense as it is. Although the band also incorporate heavier parts, much of the album goes by in a blast beat frenzy, but spiced up with atmospheric keyboards/synths, which provide the music with some accessibility (it´s actually quite atmospheric and accessible at times...even slightly melodic and occasionally epic). Csihar is a skilled and versatile black metal vocalist, and he delivers both extreme screaming black metal vocals and his usual talking/singing raw vocals.

"Fire Walk With Us" featureds a decent sounding production job, which suits the material pretty well. It´s not fantastic sounding, but it´s alright for what it is. For a sophomore studio album "Fire Walk With Us" does exactly what it´s supposed to do. Builds and developts upon the sound initiated on the debut album, shows an increased level of playing skills, and definitely improved songwriting. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Psychogrotesque" is the 5th full-length studio album by Italian black metal act Aborym. It´s the successor to the critically acclaimed "Generator (2006)". "Psychogrotesque" was released in November 2010 through Season of Mist. The band is a three-piece on the album. Bandleader and only original member Malfeitor Fabban on vocals, bass and keyboards, new member Hell:IO:Kabbalus on guitars, synths and programming, and Norwegian drummer Bård G. Eithun (Emperor, Blood Tsunami), who also played on "Generator (2006)".

"Psychogrotesque" is a concept album where all 10 tracks seque into each other. They are titled "Psychogrotesque I-X". It´s an album featuring a disturbing dark atmosphere. A sense of paranoia and insanity hits the listener from the get go and doesn´t let go until the album is over. Stylistically "Psychogrotesque" continues the progressive black metal style of "Generator (2006)" and expands on it. Aborym always had an industrial element in their music which is also present on this release. It´s black metal featuring raspy vocals and layered with synths and chilling sound effects. Atmospheric and even occasionally ambient but not to an extent where power is sacrificed. This is indeed a both raw and powerful album yet at the same time highly sophisticated.

"Psychogrotesque" is very well produced and the sound production elevates the already strong and powerful music to an even higher level like a good production should. The musisianship is strong too and "Psychogrotesque" is in every way a high quality release and it´s recommended to those who enjoy the more adventurous side of black metal. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Dirty" is the 6th full-length studio album by Italian black metal act Aborym. The album was released through Agonia Records in May 2013. It´s the follow up to the band´s 2010 album "Psychogrotesque". Aborym have been through quite an interesting development in sound and personel through the years, and if anyone thought the band had settled with the release of "Generator (2006)" and "Psychogrotesque (2010)", which feature a relatively similar musical approach, they will be surprised by the direction Aborym take on "Dirty".

The music is still quite adventurous (which is also the case on the two direct predecessors) and you can definitely defend calling the music style on the album progressive black metal, even though the music isn´t overtly complex in structure and the playing is not technically focused as a stylistic element. This is still technically well played music though, featuring both blastbeats and a host of other tempi. The big difference between "Dirty" and the two predecessors is how much Aborym embrace industrial and goth elements on this album. An act like Nine Inch Nails come to mind at various times on the album. The clean vocals on the album provide the album with the goth touch (I´m sometimes reminded of how Kreator sounded on "Endorama (1999)"). There are actually a surprisingly large amount of clean vocal sections on "Dirty" even though Malfeitor Fabban also snarl away in his usual black metal type delivery. The music features an omnipresence of keyboards/synths and even the occasional use of electronic beats (take a listen to "Helter Skelter Youth") and in that respect the sound on "Dirty" harks back to the band´s early album releases.

"Dirty" is a well produced and powerful sounding album. It´s the kind of album where you´ll find new details with each new listen. To my ears it´s quite a bold move to release an album like this. I think it´ll be a fan base divider, but it´s certainly proof that Aborym haven´t stagnated. Personally I think the result is somewhat a mixed bag, that doesn´t quite live up to the high quality of the two predecessors, but "Dirty" is the kind of album that you might listen to in 10 years and have a different opinion about. Therefore my 3.5 star (70%) rating is not set in stone.

Kev Rowland This is the sixth album from Aborym, and has been released as a double CD. Formed in 1992 by frontman Fabban, Aborym started life as a covers band and went through several transformations, eventually pioneering what the band calls “hard-industrial-electro extreme metal”. Today’s line-up consists of Italians Fabban on vocals, bass and synths and Paolo Pieri (Hour Of Penance) on guitars, keyboards and programming, together with Norway’s Bard “Faust” Eithun (Blood Tsunami, Mongo Ninja, ex-Emperor) on drums. When I first put this album on the player the temperature dropped (I honestly felt physically colder as the music went on), and I was transported to the middle of a Norwegian wood in Winter, watching a pitched battle between Rammstein, Throbbing Gristle, Children of Bodom and Napalm Death with no clear idea of who was going to win.

Various words came to mind as I played this, including “intense” and “bleak”. Somehow these guys are expert at conjuring up a post apocalyptic vision in sound, and the result is an extreme version of black metal that has more than a nod to both industrial and grindcore. It is a very draining album to listen to due to the sheer intensity and power of what is taking place, yet the listener feels compelled to play it all the way through to the end without taking a break, although it is almost a relief when the music stops. I found some of the cover versions on the second CD really interesting, particularly Maiden’s “Hallowed Be Thy Name” and Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb”. The first has been deconstructed and has way more keyboards that one could imagine, while the second is virtually straight and is at total odds with the rest of the album.

This is not an easy album to listen to, and many will want to discard it out of hand completely, but if you want cutting edge extreme metal then this is one of the most incredible things I have ever come across. For more details visit www.agoniarecords.com

J-Man Imagine that you are trapped in a dark forest late at night. There's no light and no other human beings that are there to comfort you. The only light is the bleak reflection of the moon, allowing only shadows to be visible. You are positive that somebody else is there... but you can't see them. You can only hear their faint, flesh-hungry whispers and devilish screams. That was the feeling I had the entire time I listened to Aborym's Psychogrotesque. A feeling of helplessness, fear, and misery. I'm not usually the type of person who enjoys such an album, but whenever a dark and perverted part of me overcomes my mind, this is precisely the album that I will put on. This is a high-quality, unique, and diverse work of art that is not recommended to the faint of heart.

Aborym plays a unique style of industrial black metal. On this album you will hear atmospheric synthesizers, fast blast beats, wailing saxophone solos, and creepy sound effects. The more industrial-influenced parts don't appeal to me very much, but they are done in a high-quality fashion. Still, I much prefer the symphonic black metal sections. This is a 10-part "concept-ish" album, consisting of song titles that only consist of a roman numeral. There is definitely a conceptual feeling throughout Psychogrotesque. I won't mention any particular tracks since the entire album is really one big song, but I will mention that the album's opening really sets the overall mood perfectly. The atmospheric keyboards throughout this album really add an extra dimension to Aborym's sound. Check out the fourth track to understand why.

The production is great. It is much more polished than old-school black metal purists will enjoy, but I personally think it's great. It's atmospheric, yet extremely heavy at the right times.

Psychogrotesque isn't the type of album I'll put on frequently, but I've really enjoyed listening to the latest Aborym album during the last week. If you want unique extreme metal that will send chills down your spine every time you hear it, this is a highly recommendable release. Just be warned - this is not an album for the squeamish. 4 stars are well deserved for this high quality album. It'll only be a matter of time before I check out some more Aborym releases.