ABORTED

It has been awhile since the term goregrind was an apt description of Belgium's ABORTED (well, except for the gore part),as the band has honed a particularly chunky, and marginally more melodic, death metal style these last few years. Some grindy characteristics are still present, but you get the gist. That of course is not a negative thing as the band hit its stride with a smashing album called "The Archaic Abattoir" in 2005. Many hardcore fans, for nostalgia purposes or otherwise, will forever point to 2003's "Goremageddon" as the definitive statement, but I'll leave that to the punters to debate. The matter at hand is how "Slaughtered & Apparatus: A Methodical Overture" stacks up against "The Archaic Abattoir", or any death metal release for that matter.

The answer is that "Slaughtered…" is not quite on par with its predecessor, mainly because the band has cleaned up its act a little too much. The approach is a more refined one from the standpoint of melody and overall sound, though we're talking in relative terms here (i.e., it ain't IN FLAMES). What remains a highlight of the ABORTED attack are the vocals of Sven De Caluwe. His alternately guttural and mid-range aggressive styles are among the best in the business, the seamless and powerful manner in which he does the job making the compositions that much more exciting and visceral. Well-placed solos and melodic leads over the blasting drums and deliciously crunchy guitars are the characteristics that make the album more than just another death metal release. A track like "A Methodical Overture" sports a kind of sinister melody, while a ripper like "Avenious" incorporates a surprising level of tunefulness as well. As a matter of fact, the group's combination of styles works well throughout the album, and Tue Madsen's production is excellent. The CARCASS-isms are there too, although I find that the comparison has been a bit overstated in defining the ABORTED sound as of late. That said, CARCASS' Jeff Walker, along with Jacob Bredahl (HATESPHERE, ALLHELLUJA),makes a guest vocal appearance.

It is a no-brainer to call "Slaughtered & Apparatus: A Methodical Approach" a good death metal album, even it is not perfect. The only other relatively troubling aspect of the disc is that halfway a realization sets in that the songs are less distinguishable from one another compared to "The Archaic Abattoir". Regardless, the album is still a vicious beast that demonstrates why ABORTED continues to prove its place as an upper-tier death metal act.