Saturday 11 June 2011

Abomnium - Rites Like Chains


1. Bless The Machine Cult 2. Hope Is An Anchor 3. Devils Trap 4. On The Banks Of The Swift Black River 5. I Am Summoned 6. Survived By The Shadowthrone 7. Rites Like Chains
8. Bullets 9. Assassin

Dual Harmony guitars blazing straight out of the pits of hell in opening track ‘Bless The Machine Cult’, thrashing violently throughout. This opener is a real mix of metal influences; thrash at the core of what is being achieved. However, it would be wrong to tag this as thrash, as there is a sinister undercurrent of Abyssic black metal lurking in the background. ‘Hope Is An Anchor’ demonstrates the bands black metal edge perfectly; scathing guitars are matched with blasting drums to create an unholy racket that sounds very ‘Norwegian’ (think later Immortal). Vocals are varied, never becoming one-dimensional which can be so often the case in some extreme metal. We’re treated to screaming black metal, guttural death metal, and even spoken ‘chant like’ vocals throughout each and every track. As mentioned previously, thrash is never far from the core of the songs, many of the songs dipping in and out of both thrash and black metal, (not that it is blackened thrash), the music is an entity in itself. The musicianship is first-class. This is demonstrated throughout the entire disc in the various guitar solos that appear in most songs. Mature and not too over the top, they complement the style of music (being played) really well. Title track 'Rites Like Chains’ mixes things up again, adding a folk edge to the bands thrashy black assault, German band 'Andras' sprang to mind while listening to this. If variety is the spice of life, then Abomnium will be for you. The bands press release described their sound as “a ferocious bite of death, black and thrash metal” and “ a vicious, splattering deluge of pure heavy fucking metal” and I agree - Intelligent, well played extreme metal with thrash and black metal at its core, and as with many of the bands coming out of the UK at the moment, this is highly recommended
8/10

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