A few months ago ABORTED smacked us upside the head with their Termination Redux EP. Now they come back to beat the shit out of us some more with new full-length album Retrogore (out now, Century Media Records). Brutal doesn’t even come close to what ABORTED does. They rip out your guts, then eat them in front of you while you weakly croak out, “Thank you sir, may I have another?” as you choke on your own blood. Imagine Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris hitting you with a flurry of punches and kicks and you’re still not even close.
“Cadaverous Collection” was the first track that jumped out at me and is without a doubt the album’s best number. The guitar solo is especially nasty. The brutal slam is prevalent, but there are some technical death metal elements that you’ll notice right away. On the other side of that coin “Whoremageddon” is all slam all the time and begs you to get in the pit if you dare. However, there is a wonderfully fluid smack dab in the middle. “Termination Redux” shows up again and also leans heavily on the technical death metal side of things while “Bit By Bit” knocks over tables and chairs on the way to ruining your party, BITCH!!
“Divine Impediment” is another technical marvel; the arrangement is very different, but no less brutal than the others. This was a song I kept coming back to because the groove kept calling me. Angry death is on the menu for “The Mephitic Conundrum” and “Forged For Decrepitude”, two hard-hitting tracks guaranteed to wreck some necks, with the latter being quite melodic in certain places, making it an instant winner. ‘From Beyond (the Grave)” starts out slow and stalkerish before shifting gears and turning up the brutality to 11.
Closer “In Avernus” is dark and moody, with sinister guitar tones, and it wraps things up nicely. With Retrogore, at the end of the day ABORTED did what ABORTED does best: come to your house, set shit on fire, kick you a few dozen times, then leave. This is a great album from a band with 20 years in and here’s to 20 more! I can only hope these guys mount a full U.S. tour in 2016 because, and I think I’m not alone here, some of us need to see, feel, and hear this shit live. Soooooo, make it happen, Powers That Be.
STANDOUT TRACKS: “Divine Impediment”, “Cadaverous Collection”, “Forged For Decrepitude”, “Whoremaggedon”, “Termination Redux”
RATING: 9/10
