- Review by Faye Coulman
REVIEWED: Aborted's 'TerrorVision'
Like the tell-tale signs of blunt force trauma inflicted on the smashed and bloodied cranium of some hapless homicide victim, the brutal trademarks of classic death metal are all too obvious and instantly recognisable. Savage and pleasingly primitive for sure, but in the year 2018, almost painfully predictable and clichéd weapons of choice.
Now imagine instead, if you will, a perpetrator of equally vicious, but infinitely more calculating capabilities. One who not only ruthlessly guts and dismembers, but also richly savours the bloodily unspooling innards, gushing fluids and associated aromas emanating from ruined flesh that once assumed a human form. Needless to say, the masterful, cold-blooded killer of which we speak goes by the name of none other than Belgian death metal fiends Aborted. So without further ado, let’s lay ‘TerrorVision’ on the slab and set about dissecting this uniquely twisted body of work.
With its opening strains of coldly immersive, 80s horror-tinged atmospheres, the darkness lurking in every bludgeoning, blackly absorbing inch of this artfully arranged long-player is made powerfully apparent from the get-go. Then it’s in a jarring implosion of battering blasts that the unsuspecting listener is brutally sucker-punched into the sinewy throes of ‘Farewell to the Flesh’ as an inky deluge of expansive groove floods the senses with nightmarish, blackened complexities. From reverb-laden slabs of Gojira-esque textures and frosty lashings of tremolo through to searing, scalpel-edged solo work, ‘Vespertine Decay’ makes for an exceptionally varied and exhilarating standout. Displaying all the visceral rawness and intensity of an endlessly unravelling spool of glistening intestines, these chugging contortions showcase unwavering levels of ripping speed and precision in delivery.
Elsewhere, ‘Altro Inferno’ sees luxuriant layers of distortion abound with cold, ritualistic majesty alongside a tightly manipulated array of crushing blasts and sizeable hunks of bass that audibly bristle with aggression. Propelled by frontman Sven de Caluwé's ghoulishly inhuman repertoire of bloodcurdling screams and guttural, throaty contortions, this is the unmistakable sound of a vision laid bare and bleeding before us in all its brutal and nightmarishly atmospheric glory. That vision is ‘TerrorVision.’
'TerrorVision' is out 21st September via Century Media