Hey there tech fiends, it's that time of the week again. Before we dive into today's focus, here's the usual weekly reminder that if you're looking for even more sick bands, all prior editions of this series can be perused here.
Today we focus on the newly released third album from Massachusetts-based technical brutal death metal group Abnormality. The band has been active since 2005 and are hardly newcomers as far as the quality of their music goes and for the talented musicians involved all deeply intertwined with the far East Coast death metal scene in the U.S. that stretches back prior even to the formation of Abnormality. Sociopathic Constructs was quite recently released last Friday, May 10th through Metal Blade Records. I may be mistaken but it felt to me like the record did not get a massive push promotion wise so I wanted to cover it today to spread the word and maybe help boost the profile of this album.
If you’re new to the group, their approach to technical brutal death metal feels like the logical modern offspring of Wormed and Cryptopsy influenced tech-death at heart. This is interesting to me since Wormed already draws from Cryptopsy influence wise, but, like all things, some groups find a way to re-combine the new ideas furthered by newer offshoots of a core influence like Cryptopsy while also drawing from the band that influenced their secondary influences at the same time such as Wormed. But Abnormality’s own twist on it is due to a thick layer of American style brutality more in line with Suffocation, Dying Fetus, Deeds of Flesh, and Hate Eternal. Those additional sources of inspiration have helped them crystallize their place among the technical brutal death metal upper echelon over time.
As far as seeing what the band states about their sound, it was re-affirming, as usual, to see my interpretation of what the music was influenced by was largely spot on. So, I guess my ears work some of the time, maybe. Abnormality states that they are “an extreme metal band hailing from Massachusetts, United States. Taking from a wide range of influences, Abnormality captures the speed and unrelenting viciousness of Hate Eternal and Origin and infuses it with grooves and hooks more reminiscent of Suffocation and Deeds of Flesh.” I wouldn’t say the Origin influence is as prominent as far as guitar work goes but the rest of it is a solid list of the influences that leave a heavy imprint on Sociopathic Constructs framework.
In summation, Abnormality has down pat a formula for eschewing the weaknesses most of their peers succumb to and Sociopathic Constructs is the best brutal minded tech-death I've heard thus far in 2019. This is a short and sweet album under 33 minutes which is a plus for this intense style, as well as each musician delivering very impressive performances several cuts above their peers too. The group has continued to refine a split focus between speed and brutality that is combined differently than most in this realm who often one-dimensionally always conjoin these two sides together which leaves for little variation or dynamic contrast to unfold and excite the listener with.
When viewed in that vein, I can say this is so much stronger than most, and it is absolutely another step up for Abnormality. I still think the best is yet to come for them considering their subtle but always real evolution from release to release continues to hint at future greatness as they refine and grow over time. So check out the full album embedded below and if you dig it orders for bundles and more are available through the label’s Indie Merch Store, and you can also get it through the Abnormality Bandcamp Page. You can follow the group over on the Abnormality Facebook Page.
