Whilst Abhorrent may be a new name for you, its members likely aren’t. Comprised of Nick Brown on vocals, Marlon Friday on guitars (Absvrdist), Lyle Cooper on drums (ex-Faceless, Absvrdist) and Erlende Caspersen on bass (Spawn of Possession), it will come as no surprise to learn these guys are playing technical death metal; and brutal technical death metal at that. What’s more, there are a slew of guest appearances to boot, including vocalists Trevor Strnad (Black Dahlia Murder) on ‘The Eagles of Asymmetry’ and “Chalky” (Mephistopheles, ex-Psycroptic) on ‘A Lightness of Mind’, alongside guitarists Malcolm Pugh (Inferi) on ‘Irift’ and Antonio Ascencio (Serocs) on ‘Ill Conceived’. That’s an awful lot of names to cover, which begs the question: does this all come together into a cohesive whole? Hell yeah it does, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this, so please go ahead and check out their awesome debut after the jump.
It doesn’t matter what you turn your attention to, there is always something to enjoy throughout Intransigence. The vocals are equally adept at handling both the grindcore and death metal elements of their sound, suitably brutal for the music even if they can get monotonous at times. The drums are as furious as you would expect with Cooper behind the skins, and the bassy tone of his double kick adds a certain weight and darkness to his assault. The guitars are well balanced between traditional, straight-forward death metal riffing, and the hyper-active, twisting and turning riffage typical of tech-death. Finally, the bass work is truly superb, finding a voice within the mix to deliver whatever the song requires: be that finding a groove in line with the drums, adding extra punch to a riff, or providing the song with more melodic phrasing. Additionally, a couple of strategically placed interludes, sometimes within songs and sometimes stand-alone, ensure the listener doesn’t get too overwhelmed by the brute power on display, always keeping them ready for more. If you, too, are one of those who’s ready for more, then don’t forget to grab a copy of Intransigence for yourself and follow the band on Facebook.
-KD