Aborted – Global Flatline
It’s not everyday that you get to talk about goregrind (Yes spellcheck, that is a word!), so when the time comes up, it feels good to finally dust off my bloody apron and electric-powered handsaw for some raw carnage and over-the-top splatter. For those who may be scratching their heads right now, goregrind is a term you may have heard in the dark reaches of the metal cosmos but yet have never encountered in any of the bands you listen to. (Or you could know exactly what it is and I am boring you to shit.) To make a long story short, goregrind is AWESOME and not that run-of-the-mill awesome either; rather that once-in-a-lifetime, blood curdling, organ donating awesome that is only truly appreciated when the saw finally hits the bone.
See, goregrind is a real treat because it’s such an underground metal genre. Even to this day there are only a handful of bands that can properly be named goregrind in the mainstream metal scene. Don’t get me wrong, I am sure there are plenty of one-man, back-alley goregrind acts in Texas named…well I won’t even go there but you get the point. There are only so many recognized goregrind bands. Starting in the early 80’s with Carcass and Repulsion, it has transformed through Exhumed, General Surgery and Haemorrhage to what is now modern day goregrind, which unfortunately is even fewer and more far between than ever before. Today’s major player and kingpin of gore is the one and only Aborted. I know it’s only my opinion, but one listen to their new album Global Flatline and it just may be your opinion as well.
The album is a breath of fresh air and when I say that, I mean a total immersion back into the goregrind of yesteryear. Fresh air and blood-coated spleens go together, right? The album is a masterpiece because it is just what the genre needed, a raw yet accessible piece of metallic fury to revitalize old-heads while simultaneously introducing a younger generation to the wonders of splatter. For those youngins, goregrind might just sound like a mix of grindcore and death metal, and essentially that is what it is…with a tendency to lean towards grind. The small intricacies of low-pitched vocals, medical imagery and lyrical themes coupled with the fast tempos make goregrind oh so similar but oh so much better.
At first I was only going to give this album a 4; I mean for the true die-hard Aborted fan, you can tell that three of these songs are reused from the Coronary Reconstruction EP which takes the original track count down from fourteen (Yes, I said fourteen. SURPRISE, there is a hidden track.) to eleven. Not only that but also a couple songs fade out and I HATE metal songs that fade out. It’s like there is more to be heard and I am being robbed of the opportunity. As I listened however, I started to realize that despite my small qualms this album is amazing.
Not only does it feature some solid grindcore but it also features guest vocals from The Black Dahlia Murder, Misery Index, Rotten Sound and Benighted, all bands I adore. I won’t give away which tracks feature which vocalist—you will just have to wait and see—but I will go on record as saying that Jason from Misery Index kills it. The album opens up with samples of a heart monitor and apocalyptic messages of graphic disease ridden warnings…pretty much exactly what you would expect from a goregrind album. The first song and the album’s second track opens right up with a sample, which is a technique that can be found throughout the album. After that, it’s all out the gate at breakneck speeds. The whole album keeps the tempo pretty high with superb song writing that maintains some semblance of a song without getting too stuck in the verse-chorus-verse rut.
Global Flatline features breakneck speeds and whiplash-inducing blastbeats, all while knowing when to pull the breaks and slow the pace down. The band alternates well between fast and slow, high pitch and low pitch, guitar solo and even a few bass solos. Perfectly placed 808’s, eerie 80’s B-rated horror flick guitar harmonies and fantastic solos make this album a clear standout in the first quarter of 2012. Even though the vocalist Sven De Caluwe has gone out and once again adopted a brand new line-up, this time featuring ex-Abigail Williams drummer, Ken Bedene, I feel long time Aborted fans will relish this release and embrace it with open arms while new found fans will find a wealth of fantastic goregrind to sink their bloody power drills into.
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84 Comments
January 17th, 2012 at 4:58 pm
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Jen replied:
January 17th, 2012 at 4:59 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Jen replied:
January 30th, 2012 at 3:49 pm
Thanks for the downvotes. Love you guys too.
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Luke Amos replied:
February 2nd, 2012 at 10:02 pm
I find it funny that this got downvoted. It insulted Enter Shikari, something I would think most Aborted fans would hate.
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Jen replied:
February 2nd, 2012 at 10:10 pm
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Kevin Juliff replied:
January 17th, 2012 at 5:42 pm
Luke,
Goregrind bands often recognize that their lyrical content and themes are WAY over-the-top. It’s the excessive almost cartoonish amounts of blood and splatter that make it so gross but yet so much fun.
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Marcos replied:
January 17th, 2012 at 9:52 pm
Fun? It’s obnoxious.
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Nicholas Misiak replied:
January 19th, 2012 at 12:38 am
lol why does Jen’s comment have so many dislikes? She has a valid point! And Marcus you better force yourself to like this album hahaha
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guest replied:
January 19th, 2012 at 2:23 pm
i just like downvoting jen
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Lee replied:
January 19th, 2012 at 2:44 pm
C’mon Trevor…..*cough*….I mean “guest”….
That’s just silly.
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Jen replied:
January 19th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Someone wasn’t hugged enough as a child.
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Chad Kallauner replied:
January 19th, 2012 at 11:24 pm
I agree with Kevin. If you don’t understand the amusement of low-budget splatter flicks, you won’t think goregrind is fun.
Three cheers for Aborted!
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Luke Amos replied:
January 23rd, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Now, I really enjoyed this album but only because I purposely am trying not to understand the lyrics. Gore is gore. It isn’t funny or fun to me. But the sound they have is fun. Good review though. It made me check them out and I’ve never listened to Aborted before.
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January 17th, 2012 at 5:15 pm
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Jen replied:
January 19th, 2012 at 3:04 pm
hahaha http://cl.ly/2g3B0d1y2f382W040z3o/fairy.jpg
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Achantion replied:
January 19th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
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January 17th, 2012 at 5:15 pm
Best review I’ve read on the site Kevin. I cannot wait for this album any longer. I’ll get back to you when I finally get my hands on it later this month! Oh and Luke the song titles rock!
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Marcos replied:
January 17th, 2012 at 9:52 pm
You sure have a diverse taste Nicholas!
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Nicholas Misiak replied:
January 17th, 2012 at 10:15 pm
Haha thanks! My mom has been in the hospital all week and we’ve been in her room rocking out to some Barry Manilow lol Now it’s time to listen to some Vildhjarta on my drive home
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January 17th, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Good review…but…ew. I’ll pass.
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January 17th, 2012 at 5:52 pm
Fuck yeah. Nice review mang.
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January 17th, 2012 at 6:02 pm
Need this album asap.
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January 17th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
great reiew!!!! this band is brutal!!! album going to be sick as hell!!! need it right away!!!!
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January 17th, 2012 at 7:06 pm
Finally, some decent metal being reviewed again on here (along with Psycroptic).
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Nicholas Misiak replied:
January 17th, 2012 at 7:13 pm
Wait……you mean you didn’t read the Enter Shikari review??? Hahaha
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Jonathan Anderson replied:
January 17th, 2012 at 9:14 pm
What is that supposed to mean Nick? lol
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Nicholas Misiak replied:
January 19th, 2012 at 12:36 am
Haha I just wanted to piss off Plasmaterial! <——It's not very often I get to say a sentence like that
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Lee replied:
January 17th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
We’ve reviewed a number of good metal albums in just in the last few weeks.
Maybe they are just from bands that you aren’t familiar with.
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KillHipsters replied:
January 18th, 2012 at 2:00 am
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Marcos replied:
January 18th, 2012 at 4:26 am
Define Hipster ¬¬
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Achantion replied:
January 18th, 2012 at 5:09 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Marcos replied:
January 18th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Enter Shikari is mainstream metalcore? okay.
thx for the definifition of hipster anyway.
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Clinton replied:
January 19th, 2012 at 8:01 pm
Don’t forget the mass consumption of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and cannibus indulging.
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zach klimek replied:
January 25th, 2012 at 2:39 am
But how can they be comfortable in jeans and pants that are way too tight even though it looks like the majority only eat leafy vegetables ? Those are some pretty tiny bottoms
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Jen replied:
January 30th, 2012 at 3:52 pm
He wasn’t trying to be a hipster. He was trying to say “Just because you don’t recognize some of the band names doesn’t mean we haven’t reviewed some good metal albums lately.”
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KillHipsters replied:
February 2nd, 2012 at 5:51 pm
Lol, I know Jen. I was just being ironic because it sounded like something a hipster would say is all, and the fact my alias is Kill Hipsters; it was a double edged sword there, haha.
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Jen replied:
February 2nd, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Gotcha.
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January 17th, 2012 at 8:43 pm
’bout fucking time. loved Strychnine, so this should rule.
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Jen replied:
February 2nd, 2012 at 5:56 pm
3.5/5!!
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January 17th, 2012 at 9:56 pm
Oh,I thought that dude was familiar,then I heard the samples and had sure I knew him! Its the dude of System Divide,isn’t? Damn hes good,but this stuff aint for me.
Very nice review,Kevin.
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January 18th, 2012 at 8:27 pm
Good shit. Love the rest of their stuff too.
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January 18th, 2012 at 11:08 pm
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zach klimek replied:
January 25th, 2012 at 2:34 am
Your loss, seriously!
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Nitrohippie replied:
January 26th, 2012 at 7:43 pm
Not really. I’ve heard a few songs from this and, while the music is solid, the lyrics are just unnecessarily disgusting, just like Cannibal Corpse and other bands of that ilk. I mean, track 14 is enough for me to totally ignore this album altogether, and the music is definitely not good enough for me to make an exception. I know that it’s part of the genre, but that doesn’t make it less disgusting. If these bands’ lyrics came from real life experiences… I have to draw the line somewhere.
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January 19th, 2012 at 1:11 am
Gore metal has never been my thing, but after reading the review and seeing the guest spots I’m very interested.
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Nicholas Misiak replied:
January 19th, 2012 at 1:15 am
All you need to know is that this is like Pig Destroyer with alittle gore added as seasoning for the perfect night time feast
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Nicholas Misiak replied:
January 19th, 2012 at 1:16 am
Albeit the songs are ALOT longer than that of Pig Destroyer!
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zach klimek replied:
January 19th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
I’ve never really been a fan of Pig destroyer, I will still check this out though.
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January 19th, 2012 at 7:55 am
Cannot wait for this album, Aborted rule!! Great review as well dude
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January 19th, 2012 at 8:00 am
Bravo Kevin, finally a review I can’t fault/troll/diss.
Love Aborted and can’t wait to hear this record.
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January 19th, 2012 at 6:18 pm
Great review, but I have to nitpick a little bit. Aborted has never been goregrind, not even back in the old days. They are more like a modern death metal band, with a bit of brutal death metal and *SHOCK* deathcore added to the sound. This is a great album though, definitely stoked to have a hardcopy!
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Nitrohippie replied:
January 23rd, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Huh?? This is why sub genres are so pointless… ^
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Jen replied:
January 30th, 2012 at 3:54 pm
Modern death + brutal death + shock deathcore = Aborted. What’s so hard to understand? lollll
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Nitrohippie replied:
January 31st, 2012 at 4:50 pm
I never liked math.
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Jen replied:
January 31st, 2012 at 4:51 pm
The point, you’re missing it.
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Nitrohippie replied:
February 1st, 2012 at 12:43 am
I’ve missed so many things in my life. I’m content being incomplete, hehe.
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January 21st, 2012 at 12:10 am
I’m liking this alot more than regular grindcore, they mix it up well!
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Jen replied:
January 31st, 2012 at 4:52 pm
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_D_Z-D2tzi14/S8TTPQCPA6I/AAAAAAAACwA/ZHZH-Bi8OmI/s400/ALOT2.png
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Luke Amos replied:
January 31st, 2012 at 4:53 pm
I regret that I have but one thumbs up to give your alot.
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Jen replied:
January 31st, 2012 at 4:56 pm
Aww, is your other one mangled?
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_D_Z-D2tzi14/S8TE6VFyd_I/AAAAAAAACvo/Ki1d_7YPbAk/s400/ALOT10.png
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Luke Amos replied:
January 31st, 2012 at 5:51 pm
Well played.
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January 25th, 2012 at 2:33 am
I got way more than my moneys worth for this album. Maybe its because its the only truely brutal album to come out in quite awhile. Anyone who likes their metal violent and varied should pick this up asap!
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Patrick replied:
January 29th, 2012 at 9:14 pm
This is exactly what metal needed. no breakdowns, no tight pants, no synth. Just pure death metal. Anyone who is turned off by the lyrics, track names or the cover seriously is a pansy, in my eyes. You can’t listen to this once and instantly have an opinion. LONG LIVE \mm/
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Nicholas Misiak replied:
January 29th, 2012 at 9:56 pm
Dude I haven’t even gotten my copy in the mail yet!! Ugh I even ordered it way before it came out
I am so stoked to hear it on some nice speakers though! I hope track 14 isn’t a hidden track and it actually says that on the physical copy haha
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Nitrohippie replied:
January 29th, 2012 at 11:31 pm
If being turned off by this stuff makes you a pansy, then what does being turned on by it make you?
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zach klimek replied:
January 29th, 2012 at 11:35 pm
Someone who loves metal!
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Nicholas Misiak replied:
January 29th, 2012 at 11:46 pm
I just love grind! It definately doesn’t “turn me on/off” though. I just wanna headbang
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Isaac Wastman replied:
January 31st, 2012 at 7:12 pm
hahahaha!
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Nitrohippie replied:
January 30th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
I guess my point was lost. I wasn’t really talking about the music.
I love metal, too, but I don’t want to hear about someone’s fetish for playing around with another human being’s intestines, or whatever else comes up in Aborted’s various lyrical themes. If the lyrics for this type of music didn’t bother me, I would be worried. I can only speak for myself, though.
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Seth replied:
January 31st, 2012 at 2:14 am
Entertainment for the sake of entertainment. Would you worry about your mental health if you enjoyed a B movie?
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Nitrohippie replied:
January 31st, 2012 at 5:14 pm
I don’t really care if anybody else chooses to like it. I just don’t like being called a pansy because I don’t. It’s not like it takes any kind of mental toughness to sit at home and listen to a CD anyway, and why would I bother? I mean, there are so many other great metal bands out there who don’t sing about nailing anything through anyone’s c*nt. There is nothing special or noteworthy about this band. Maybe if they were more creative and original with their music they wouldn’t have to write lyrics like that in order to get attention. The only consolation I have is that five years down the road only a handful of people will barely be able to remember that this album came out. It will be just another unmemorable metal album buried in a pile of hundreds of other unmemorable metal albums.
On that note, I hope everyone who likes this band/album continues to enjoy it. Have a nice day!
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Jen replied:
January 30th, 2012 at 3:55 pm
Yup, I’m a pansy. Maybe you prefer girls that are more manly. Or, considering the lyrical content, maybe you like them dead and dismembered so you can chew on their intestines.
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Nicholas Misiak replied:
January 31st, 2012 at 1:41 am
I definately don’t take these lyrical themes to heart, therefore I’m not really offended nor inspired by them. I just like how awesome everything sounds on this record. And yes, I finally got my copy
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Marcos replied:
February 1st, 2012 at 12:47 am
Well,I’m sure these guys love that “Human centipede 2″ movie hahaha
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Nicholas Misiak replied:
February 1st, 2012 at 1:13 am
Haha I hated those movies! I really don’t enjoy B style horror movies all that much, but I don’t mind those themes in the music. I completely understand that this album isn’t everyones cup of tea, but I hope they can look past the gimmicks and conentrate on the music.
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Marcos replied:
February 1st, 2012 at 9:14 am
I watched both 1 and 2nd human centipede movies past weekend,the 2nd is really gross hahaha
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Chad Kallauner replied:
February 1st, 2012 at 4:17 pm
I’m the same way. I hate those B horror flicks but love sicko-core music.
Another movie that repulsed me was “Feed.” My own boss loaned it to me! Haha.
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Marcos replied:
February 2nd, 2012 at 7:33 pm
Hmmm Ima check it out !!
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Luke Amos replied:
January 31st, 2012 at 7:15 pm
This isn’t pure death metal. Come on now.
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January 26th, 2012 at 5:16 pm
There is some good shit in death metal out right now,and this is not one of them for sure,boring like shit.
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January 26th, 2012 at 5:20 pm
Coldworker-The Doomsayer’s Call,for example.If this is a 5.0 taht one is…i dont know,lol.Amazing,people chek this out(Is the band of the extinct and missed Nasum drummer).Cheers.
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February 3rd, 2012 at 3:10 pm
Nic, did you get your copy of this one ?
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February 5th, 2012 at 5:55 am
Really, really enjoyed this one, too! Great to see that good death metal is rewarded here at TNR. I’ve seen sites where bands like Benighted, Aborted and to lesser degree Decapitated have been bombed for just being Death Metal…
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May 11th, 2012 at 1:15 am
I love this album but man is it difficult to understand a word that Sven barks. Does anyone else have that problem? With a good majority of metal I can pretty much interpret every word, but there’s something about this band where I feel like I catch maybe a few words in every album. Don’t even get me started on early Cannibal Corpse or Obituary LOL! Still killer musicianship all the way around and great review.
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