Abomination [Digipak] - Abomination > Reviews > Kill Your Father, Kill Your Friend

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Mediocre
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Fine early death metal .
Disadvantages:	Repetitive and derivative .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The fast and furious debut album from Chicago's Abomination is an enjoyably frenetic piece of death metal history, bridging the gap seamlessly between the angry thrash of the late 80s, the even angrier grind of the turn of the 90s, and the brutal death metal that continued to be defined throughout the decade. While it opts to adopt traits from all three groups rather than bring anything particularly new to the table, Abomination's self-titled release still sounds great today even if it is largely rooted in a specific 1990 sound, proving that metal still had a violent edge even before production values were kicked up a few notches and the crushing force of a live death metal performance could be transmitted to your own living room, cellar or car. But then, I am a bit of a sucker for primitive early 90s death.

'Abomination' was released on the burgeoning Nuclear Blast label, which would soon give rise to some of the most prominent extreme Scandinavian bands from the 90s up to the present day, though this is a full-blooded U.S.A. release with plenty of local references to the President and U.S. capitalist society (can you guess which side they're on? This is nothing if not by-the-numbers aggro), and with enough obvious tips of the hat to genre forebears Slayer and Master as well as the numerous death and grind acts springing up all over the place. Based more in the sound of grind than death metal as it's know today, the focus is less on achieving a deafening raucous through blasted drums, down-tuned guitars and roared vocals, and more a violent off-shoot of hardcore punk.

Paul Speckmann's vocals are yelled with a genuine fury without becoming incomprehensible death grunts, while his bass can be heard distinctly and satisfyingly both over and between the speedy guitars, which are themselves primarily concerned with riffing along at a breakneck pace, often throwing up some interesting riff changes and squealed, brainless solos in the style of Slayer's Kerry King. Aaron Nickeas' drums are the most fore-grounded and impressive instrument, smothering the full extent of the kit in every song rather than restricting himself to maintaining a steady rhythm or relying solely on the double bass pedals that many lesser bands seem to think constitutes a heavy sound. The slightly lo-fi production quality means that the whole thing is still firmly rooted in the 80s, sounding more akin to thrash than the louder death metal being produced by Death and Morbid Angel, but really this only adds to its historical charm. Nuclear Blast's more recent catalogue is full of death metal cacophonies, but this is a highly enjoyable album that will be enjoyed by Death and Anthrax fans alike.

1. The Choice
2. Murder, Rape, Pillage and Burn
3. Reformation
4. Redeem Deny
5. Possession
6. Suicidal Dreams
7. Life and Death
8. Victim of the Future
9. Tunnel of Damnation
10. Follower
11. Impending Doom

The first and longest song is an overview of pretty much everything that the band has to offer, from some of Speckmann's less generic lyrics (in that they don't just concern war, government and religion) to a succession of great guitar riffs and time in the spotlight for the drums and, to a lesser but still notable extent, Speckmann's punky bass. From here on the album varies very little from the standard fast, angry style, but most of the songs manage some form of deviation, whether that simply means adding a slow section as in 'Follower,' or throwing out some great, unexpected lead guitars as is the case with the excellent 'Life and Death.' Nickeas' drums are at their best when unleashed in 'Murder, Rape, Pillage and Burn,' a song that's also notable for the unadulterated enjoyment of its chorus, where the bitter, anti-everything title is yelled in unison punk fashion, but the drums suffer considerably when attempts are made to explore a genuine 'heavy' sound, not really suited to the album's production. 'Reformation' ends up sounding far less brutal than its exhaustive skin-hammering efforts clearly intended, while the unwise drum intro to 'Tunnel of Damnation' is bizarrely the worst percussion of the whole album, largely due to its reliance on a bass drum extravaganza in unsuitable circumstances.

There's genuine rage throughout this album, particularly evident in the spiteful yells of the more hateful songs such as 'Suicidal Dreams,' but there are also unfortunately a number of times where the energy and ideas seem to run out by the half-way point of the song, leading to over-repetition that could easily have been avoided by trimming the track length to something more appropriate, which would still exceed the grindcore average length of around twenty seconds. The unfortunate distanced sound of the guitars caused by the production's bass-heavy preference also means that many of their more interesting offerings can easily pass listeners by, often forming a mere wall of sound against which Nickeas is free to explore his drum kit, in an odd turnaround of the normal order.

Perhaps my favourite track is 'Possession,' if only for its unusual and entertaining deviation, as Speckmann slowly but surely recites the Lord's Prayer in full around the half-way point, yelled in anger and accompanied by a tormented scream in the distance, before the guitars move into an uncharacteristically chirpy rendition of 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic,' with ever-so-subtly changed vocals ('Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the death' - did you spot it?). 'Follower' is another fine song with some great Testament-style eerie lead guitars, and along with its successor 'Impending Doom,' was added to CD versions as a 'bonus track' present on all versions, but not on the equivalent LP. This final song is far less noteworthy, sounding like a carbon copy of much more famous earlier songs by Slayer, particularly in its replication of key aspects of 'Angel of Death.'

Abomination's name was never going to go down in history alongside their more creative and commercially successful contemporaries, but their albums are still great examples of early death metal in its genesis, before the sound became fairly standardised and repetitive. Paul Speckmann is a great frontman and impressive songwriter, his lyrics following the usual anarchistic agenda but managing to incorporate a large degree of irony and empathy, and it's a shame he wasn't a greater presence in the field alongside greats such as Chuck Schuldiner. 'Abomination' is relatively hard to come by, but some of their subsequent albums released prior to their mid-nineties break-up ought to be a little more in the limelight.