Aborted is a band that needs little introduction. Still, for those who need a refresher, this Belgium-based band has been around since 1995 and released around nine full-lengths and a substantial amount of EPs, demos, and splits. Without divulging all the dark secretes, the best way to describe this band in the most simple sense, is death metal. Death-grind is also an appropriate descriptor for a band pushing towards 25 years of existence.
If one were to trace the evolution of the band through its many line-up changes, horror-themed music and album art, and brutal approach to death metal, its satisfying to hear a progression that not only manifests itself in the riff writing and diversity in vocal styles, but also the core structure of many of the songs on TerrorVision. In preparing for this write-up, I revisited some of their older releases to recall the earlier experiences and time spent listening to Aborted. In revisiting these, there was this recurring thought of, "Why are these albums not more of a priority in my life?" Aborted has always had the talent and a good creative approach. This visit to the past just reinforced how skilled this band is.
As TerrorVision begins, the introduction prepares for the wakes of blood that will soon envelop you. The title track gives the high-speed destruction expected of the band. Churning lead riffs, punishing vocals, and even a high-speed slam halfway through the track gets the mood going. Closing out with a blisters guitar solo that leaves you in a place split between enjoying the heaviness, and attempting to figure out what is being played.
As the tracks progress through the album, not much changes. High speed grind like tempos and riffs all cram quite a bit of death metal groove and brutality into each song. The tracks are well formulated with re-curing chorus type portions followed by verses and bridges (slams, breakdown, or solos). This is not all uncommon for bands of this maturity to migrate to a systematic approach to writing. When the riffs and quality and the music is good, it actually benefits the bands who do this as it reinforces and revisits well-crafted portions that make up the song.
[youtube= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSzAE-g4-TU][/youtube]
As stated before, this band is extremely talented and creates some of the best music in their subgenre. To elaborate on what was stated earlier, with the question of why it seemed I had abandoned the band in the way of not giving them time on my daily playlist, the answer is just preference. 10 years ago when this band was a bigger part of my life, the fast-paced 250 beats a minute and mind-melting speed were more of a priority. This music does take time to digest and is not as accessible, and that is who Aborted is, and hopefully will always be, preference aside. When the time is right, this band fills the perfect gap in my life.
Unfortunately, there are no sound clips on this album as many of their previous releases had. No excerpts from horror films or audio recordings of killers. To make up for this though, there are some excellent guest vocals throughout the album, most notably on the "The Final Absolution". I may be wrong, as I could not clarify if this was accurate, but I think the vocalist is Sebastian Grihm from Cytotoxin. This more straightforward album has no gimmicks or distractions. It's all about the music.
Score: 7.5/10
