Abhorrency Look Beyond War Metal On New Single (New Track Debut)
Most of the time when I see the “black/death metal” tag, it means one thing: war metal, a cop-out for poor production, pick slides over eight-bar drum fills (which are actually pretty cool), and Oakley-donned aesthetics. Don’t get me wrong, the Ross Bay Cult (Eternal) school gets something right, as war metal has pervaded for decades, but a lot of it sounds… the same, to the point where two bands covered Blasphemy’s “Ritual” at a war metal-focused festival I attended a decade ago. The thing about war metal is it’s meant to be this intense, confrontational style, but if everyone’s trying to sound like Blasphemy’s demos down to their fidelity, how is anything new supposed to happen?
Sacramento’s Abhorrency is a rare, forward-thinking exception to these now etched-in-stone rules. Though still undeniably “war metal” (hammer blasts, huge drum fills, gross vocals, general sense of malice and wrongdoing), what’s nice about Abhorrency is that they 1) have discernible riffs, which is a huge plus, and 2) you can hear everything going on, which accentuates point number one. Though I keep saying “war metal,” which Abhorrency undeniably is, there is a huge death metal influence which really pushes this band over the edge, one which manifests partially in a sharper, lower-end production, but also in the sinewy nature of their riffing. There isn’t the “war metal glut” here where a song simply goes until it ends (or when the band members get exhausted), rather there is some pretty strong songwriting which really moves these songs through a linear path to a logical conclusion. This is a satisfying (and extremely gross) listen. Abhorrency’s adherence to the classic Canadian/Finnish/Floridian sound with a clear, riff-centric approach goes beyond “just war metal” and really kicks the listener in the gut more than a few times. Don’t believe me? Take a listen to upcoming album Climax of Disgusting Impurities‘s title track ahead of its July 1st release below, and maybe wear a raincoat. It’s going to get pretty gnarly.
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Climax of Disgusting Impurities releases July 1st via Stygian Black Hand and Goat Throne Records.
