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Abhorration – Demonolatry

abhorration – demonolatry

Info

My first introduction to Abhorration was their live gig in Gothenburg, October fifth 2024. They did a show in Sweden to promote their debut album ‘Demonolatry’, which was published nine days prior on Invictus Records. I was merely spending the weekend in Gothenburg, and although the city had a lot to offer, Abhorration’s gig rose to the highlight of that weekend! Now, few months later, I’m honoured to share my view on ‘Demonolatry’, but it is a challenge to stay objective with their great live performance still freshly present on my memory.

Enough about me, this is about Abhorration. This four-piece band from Oslo, Norway is focussed upon bringing back the old school values of late 80’s Extreme Metal. The most obvious blue-print for ‘Demonolatry’ must have been ‘Altars of Madness’. This becomes clear when listening to the guitars, which are played at rapid fire but still remain memorable. The riffs constantly change from being highly energetic old school Death Metal, to the fastest of old school Thrash Metal. Throughout the album, the guitars leave little room to breathe. On and on goes the onslaught of hard hitting, fast and earworm riffing. Perfectly accentuating the little hooks and licks are the drums. The drums are played with high accuracy and velocity. Where the guitars and bass slice up everything in its way, it’s the drums that give the ultimate death blow. Abhorration’s vocalist Magnus add to the band’s sound his intense raspy high screams, which sound like a foul combination of Mille Petrozza and Peter Tägtgren.

Another thing I adore about ‘Demonolatry’ is its sound. The production is absolutely amazing, being both clear and raw at the same time. The vocals, bass, guitars and drums are all clearly audible and feel unprocessed. The first thing that struck me the most is how similar the CD sounds to what I’ve heard during their gig. ‘Demonolatry’ could have been recorded live in a small venue or rehearsal place, were it not for every instrument being clearly discernible from each other.  This is how every current Extreme Metal band playing old school Extreme Metal should sound. Forget the whole resurgence of OSDM bands harkening back to the Morrisound/Sunlight studios sound, focus on producing this production job instead!

I can’t recommend ‘Demonolatry’ enough to every fan of Thrash/Black/Death Metal. There’s so much to enjoy on this record. It’s more than just plain Morbid Angel worship. It’s got the heaviest of old school Thrash Metal, the intensity of Black Metal and the versatility of Death Metal. All neatly packaged in a raw and fleshed out late 1980’s sound. I’ve seen them live once, I certainly hope I’m going to see them live again… and so should you!

Headsplit Records

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