Aborted – Slaughter and Apparatus: A Methodical Overture
Century Media Records – 77649-2P -19th February 2007
by Tom Strutton
Death metal and grindcore should rip your face off. That’s why we listen to it and that’s why we love it. But our love affair with death and grind cannot be ascribed to such a limited number of factors as this, as any thoughtful fan of extreme metal may rightfully explain. In the process of being subjected to aural rape one also revels in the pleasure to be derived from the sheer pro-active display of energy, the admirable levels of concentration required to maintain tight performances, and, on record, the technical skill involved in engineering sound levels in order to exact clarity out of loud and muddy sound sources. Of course, not every death metal band achieves any, or even one, of these things that remind us why we love extreme music in the first place. Thankfully for Aborted, the Belgian’s fifth-album (first for Century Media) Slaughter and Apparatus: A Methodical Overture presses most of the right buttons, revealing a band that understands the name of the game and is ready to play with deserved conviction.
Having released four albums, an ep and a DVD over the span of their time with Listenable Records, Aborted have had enough time to hone their brand into something special to mark their first release on Century Media Records. This time around, Davey Haley from Australian tech-death mentalists Psycroptic lends his restless arms and feet to percussive duties, providing a welcome contribution that will get drum-ophiles jumping for joy. The production and mastering is pretty top-notch, coming courtesy of Tue Madsen who performed the same duties on 2005’s The Archaic Abbatoir. Without exagerrating, the balance between instruments is so remarkable you probably won’t even notice it. Listening to Slaughter and Apparatus on a pair of expensive headphones is probably the best way to appreciate this, as you will also be treated to a wealth of subtleties that are lost through less direct methods of contact. Failing this, the fantastic sound of the album should still be evident through average speakers.
Slaughter and Apparatus states its arrival in the one of the most awesomely effective introductions in recent years. Opening track 'The Chondrin Enigma' kicks off with a deep rumbling industrial noise echoing ominously, with occasional subsonic thuds creating tension whilst giving no hint as to what to expect. Over this comes a heavily fuzzed e-riff, which plays out in successive places of the stereo field. Several media vocal samples issue warnings over this gradual crescendo, which peaks with white noise at 0:34…and then the bomb is dropped with merciless precision, signalling an unspoken warning - ‘not for the faint of heart’. When Aborted aren’t ripping up blast-beats like no tomorrow they take well timed excursions into groove territory, which affords much needed respite. The introduction to 'Avenious' exemplifies this gloriously, with its laid back lower-than-low groove highly reminiscent of early Carcass material. Of course, no secrets are made of the homage paid to Carcass, which is as reflected in the surgically precise performances as much as Jeff Walker’s guest appearance. 'Archetype' does exactly as its name suggests, providing an archetypal reference point for sludgy, dirty, unwholesome death-grind. To reiterate a previous point, the production job on this record is exceptional in the way that it has accentuated the low-end guitars and brought them out in sharp contrast against the high-end percussion. It is in such contrasts as this that Slaughter and Apparatus really comes into its own.
Extreme metal is hard to write and even harder to perform, but Aborted are one of the few that make it seem easy. Perhaps this record was always going to be successful the moment they got Davey Haley on board, a man who is less a man than an octopus with ADHD that has just been given a drumkit and told to go wild. More accurately, Slaughter and Apparatus is the splendid result of a collection of talented minds working in unison to be the best they can be. How best to describe it? Imagine getting hit by that new train that can reach 350+mph…
Official Aborted Website
Official Century Media Records Website
Century Media Records – 77649-2P -19th February 2007
by Tom Strutton
Death metal and grindcore should rip your face off. That’s why we listen to it and that’s why we love it. But our love affair with death and grind cannot be ascribed to such a limited number of factors as this, as any thoughtful fan of extreme metal may rightfully explain. In the process of being subjected to aural rape one also revels in the pleasure to be derived from the sheer pro-active display of energy, the admirable levels of concentration required to maintain tight performances, and, on record, the technical skill involved in engineering sound levels in order to exact clarity out of loud and muddy sound sources. Of course, not every death metal band achieves any, or even one, of these things that remind us why we love extreme music in the first place. Thankfully for Aborted, the Belgian’s fifth-album (first for Century Media) Slaughter and Apparatus: A Methodical Overture presses most of the right buttons, revealing a band that understands the name of the game and is ready to play with deserved conviction.
Having released four albums, an ep and a DVD over the span of their time with Listenable Records, Aborted have had enough time to hone their brand into something special to mark their first release on Century Media Records. This time around, Davey Haley from Australian tech-death mentalists Psycroptic lends his restless arms and feet to percussive duties, providing a welcome contribution that will get drum-ophiles jumping for joy. The production and mastering is pretty top-notch, coming courtesy of Tue Madsen who performed the same duties on 2005’s The Archaic Abbatoir. Without exagerrating, the balance between instruments is so remarkable you probably won’t even notice it. Listening to Slaughter and Apparatus on a pair of expensive headphones is probably the best way to appreciate this, as you will also be treated to a wealth of subtleties that are lost through less direct methods of contact. Failing this, the fantastic sound of the album should still be evident through average speakers.
Slaughter and Apparatus states its arrival in the one of the most awesomely effective introductions in recent years. Opening track 'The Chondrin Enigma' kicks off with a deep rumbling industrial noise echoing ominously, with occasional subsonic thuds creating tension whilst giving no hint as to what to expect. Over this comes a heavily fuzzed e-riff, which plays out in successive places of the stereo field. Several media vocal samples issue warnings over this gradual crescendo, which peaks with white noise at 0:34…and then the bomb is dropped with merciless precision, signalling an unspoken warning - ‘not for the faint of heart’. When Aborted aren’t ripping up blast-beats like no tomorrow they take well timed excursions into groove territory, which affords much needed respite. The introduction to 'Avenious' exemplifies this gloriously, with its laid back lower-than-low groove highly reminiscent of early Carcass material. Of course, no secrets are made of the homage paid to Carcass, which is as reflected in the surgically precise performances as much as Jeff Walker’s guest appearance. 'Archetype' does exactly as its name suggests, providing an archetypal reference point for sludgy, dirty, unwholesome death-grind. To reiterate a previous point, the production job on this record is exceptional in the way that it has accentuated the low-end guitars and brought them out in sharp contrast against the high-end percussion. It is in such contrasts as this that Slaughter and Apparatus really comes into its own.
Extreme metal is hard to write and even harder to perform, but Aborted are one of the few that make it seem easy. Perhaps this record was always going to be successful the moment they got Davey Haley on board, a man who is less a man than an octopus with ADHD that has just been given a drumkit and told to go wild. More accurately, Slaughter and Apparatus is the splendid result of a collection of talented minds working in unison to be the best they can be. How best to describe it? Imagine getting hit by that new train that can reach 350+mph…
Official Aborted Website
Official Century Media Records Website
