"It’s aggressive and its relentless music, expelling caustic and sometimes acidic venom that soaks through your pores, leaving you in a state of numbed terror and hysteria. That’s exactly what grindcore and death metal music should do to you. Mission accomplished here"
These Irish tormentors have been around a very long time. I’m going right back to the nineties here, and y’know something, it’s testament to the dedication and skill that Abaddon Incarnate have amassed on their almost divine journey through the carnage and decimation of the grindcore and death metal landscape. It’s that doggedness and perseverance that has these guys still releasing their spiteful and ruthless brand of music that pulverises the listener without apology. The Wretched sermon is a thirteen-track album that transitions through varied metal styles, incorporating the speed and menace of thrash, while blending it with some deeply melodic and atmospheric undertones. It will still peel the flesh from your bones with its rusted and blunted blade, but dare I say it, there is a refinement about it, an unbuffed polish that has galvanised them and made them more foreboding than ever before.
Take for instance Rising Of The Lights, which wastes no time in showcasing Abaddon Incarnate’s intent with its skin shredding riffs and battered percussions. The tirade of Steve Maher enters beneath a torrent of skyward lead solos and a pummelling bass line. There is no let-up in this beast of a track, so much so that it drives flawlessly into the next track Veritas with its vitriolic and scathing onslaught, all consumed at the speed of light.
The tendency to lean on their death metal influences weigh heavy on tracks like Epic Desecration. The melody emanating from the guitar of Bill Whelan is a nod to the gods that dominated those nineties death metal days. Even tracks like Parasite reek of Sepultura’s Chaos AD which has been drowned in an acid bath, with some of Brutal Truths most hostile riffs and hooks thrown in for good measure.
It’s probably a little unfair to compare a band like Abaddon Incarnate with other bands of the same era, as they both shared the stage at that time, but still have their own identity. Sometimes you just have to make reference to certain bands or sounds that will potentially bring forth a new listener or fan to the Abaddon Incarnate lynch mob!
Into The Maelstrom…….holy shit, where do you start. The power and pace of this track is insane, whipping up a cyclone of near black metal ferocity and savagery, blast beaten to oblivion by the limbs of Olan Parkinson. Every beat and crash is plucked and picked in unison by the spider fingers of bassist Irene Siragusa, whose hands of steel show no mercy. This track is a favourite of mine from the album and has been played on repeat when life decides to take a dump and leave you frustrated. Music for the soul! A black soul at least!
Pre-released tracks like Shrine of Flesh and Silent Indifference only whet the appetite and give the scent of blood for what is to be unleashed to the masses in a few weeks’ time. The Wretched Sermon has everything you want from Abaddon Incarnate, but I believe they have somehow found another gear, an injection of pace and power, if that is even possible. Some bands age well, others don’t. In an age where music is becoming ever more disposable, Abaddon Incarnate have unleashed hell and raised the bar of extreme music once more with The Wretched Sermon. It’s aggressive and its relentless music, expelling caustic and sometimes acidic venom that soaks through your pores, leaving you in a state of numbed terror and hysteria. That’s exactly what grindcore and death metal music should do to you. Mission accomplished here.