Abysmal Torment
Incised Wound Suicide
8.5
This is good. In fact, it’s superb. Forget about Beheaded, because Abysmal Torment are the Maltese band to be paying attention to. Actually, don’t forget Beheaded, since they’re great, but set Ominous Bloodline aside for a moment and pick up Incised Wound Suicide, the sickest mini-CD I’ve heard in some time. Abysmal Torment are deathgrind the way it’s meant to be played, with hyperspeed bouncing rhythms, blasting drums, and crushing breakdowns. Yes, crushing breakdowns. If you’re the sort of fan who can’t stand the occasional slam riff, thinks that groove sections suck, and compares Devourment to hip hop, you may not be one hundred percent pleased with this effort. For the rest of us, who don’t hold irrational prejudices against this excellent form of music, Abysmal Torment are the perfect band. Somehow, they manage to be extremely catchy while maintaining a blistering tempo throughout this exercise in aural domination.
The members of the band are extremely skilled at their instruments. Drummer Wayne Vella’s insane blasting is impressive, but it’s the unusual rhythms that he plays which I really enjoy. The guitar work is highly technical, though the band never sacrifice groove for tech, and the passages which employ simpler riffs only make the faster parts seem more impressive. The breakdowns afford the listener a moment or two to process what he or she has heard before the next pummeling onslaught. Another thing I like hearing are the twangs and thuds from the bassist of this outfit. His parts are easily audible, and add a lot to the thickness of all this. I feel that the vocal performance is pretty outstanding – Abysmal Torment go for the twin vocal assault, like many deathgrind artists, and my ears pick up a ton of juicy gurgles, my favorite death metal vocal style.
The songs themselves are very well put together, and Abysmal Torment employ the evolving riff style – it’s not quite a string of riffs, but there are hardly choruses or such niceties. I think that this sort of songwriting is ideal for the deathgrind genre. Another reason that I have awarded them such a high songwriting score is that somehow the band manages to make every cut on this disc sound varied and unique. There is enough cohesiveness throughout the record that the songs fit together, but the band have avoided taking the route of creating five virtually identical tracks. For example, the last number, “Grotesquely Maimed and Cranially Disfigured,” has an absolutely massive bass interlude around the 3:30 mark, and the moment that this breaks into a faster riff is extremely memorable. In fact, there are many parts which are instantly appealing due to well-composed riffs. No matter what’s going on, however, they never let up as far as intensity goes, and the bludgeoning grooves and lightspeed riffs are equally powerful. The production highlights all of this and is just as good as the rest of what is going on.
This album is required listening if you enjoy meaty, tactless extreme metal. You won’t hear any melody or frivolous wankery. Abysmal Torment are a killing machine of epic proportions. We might just have the next Dying Fetus on our hands.
