Horrorhammer

Dennis Dread has got to be one of my favorite cover artists working today, and California's filth merchants Abscess had the honor of dressing up their records with his distinct black and white artwork numerous times, my favorite of which was 2007's Horrorhammer. I'll also go against the grain and say that this was hands down one of my favorite albums from Reifert's post/pre-Autopsy project, while understanding the complaints against it...that it's not quite so gruesome as their output before it. But I'm not going to lie, I've had a bit of fun when cranking this record and I love its focus on the more upbeat material and really clobbering you over the ears. Horrorhammer lacks any degree of subtlety, it simply lives up to its title and for that I am grateful.

I'm not saying I entirely love the album, but when I'm in need for a grisly, high-body-count reel of death metal, speed metal, crossover and punk, graced with Reifert and company's unmistakable vocal ugliness, this one scratches my nethers. You could think of it as a halfway point between Autopsy and Seattle splatter-gods The Accüsed. Velocity meets carnage on a freeway of cult exploitation, but I don't want to mislead you into thinking this is monotonous. There are some faster, simpler cuts here like "Another Private Hell", or mid-paced like "Four Grey Walls", which are essentially pure punk adrenaline made different only through the vocal presence, but quite a lot of them have brief, slower sequences, sometimes just an atmospheric clench on a few dissonant chords, or some of the obvious death/doom that creeps back into the sound with a cut like "When Witches Burn", one of my favorites in their whole catalog. I love the guitar tone this time, not too abrasive but keeps its corpulence whether fast or slow, and sounds great with the rocking leads that often burst from the rhythms like a cannibal baby from its womb.

The drums and bass sound equally cool here, but all of this stuff is simply in support of the undead elephant in the room, those abusive vocals, just as loose and unhinged as Chris' mainstay, and thus more genuine feeling than most monotonous guttural orators which don't sound nearly as sick as they'd like. And even better, they sit equally as uncomfortable across whatever genre component Abscess is using at the time...the more accessible punk parts, the speed/death licks or the doomier sequences. Just enough effects on them at points to make them feel as if they're raving and barking at you from the sepulcher, or chasing you down a tight alleyway at night behind the butcher's shop. To some it might seem a bit garbled, but the energy there completely matches the waxing and waning of the musical muscle, or the oft-shoddy transitions between sub-styles. The instrumental title track is cool, as are the lyrics, simple and gory as they are. To be honest, there aren't a lot of truly catchy riffs, maybe a half dozen on the disc, but it's still one so compact I find no problem listening through the entire 35 minutes, since it congeals together so well like clotted blood.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

For anyone who has ever had an abscess, they certainly know it's not a laughing matter. In fact, I had an abscessed tooth last year, and it sucked more dick than Jenna Jameson giving head to the employees of a Dyson factory. In a black hole. So, after the original split of Autopsy back in the mid-nineties, Chris Reifert couldn't have chosen a more suitable name for this filthy four-piece's moniker, as it's the aural equivalent of having one in your ears. You can almost feel the puss oozing as your ear drums quickly deteriorate into sludge as the waves of rock and roll and punk inspired death metal literally drool from your speakers, infecting your head like a particularly nasty strain of rancid virus.

I've followed the band after picking up their excellent 'Tormented' album, and know that they always suffered with comparisons with Autopsy, which is understandable as musically they aren't exactly a massive breed apart. However, come this album, it seemed Reifert and Co. were truly struggling for ideas. The riffs just don't have the longevity that their previous releases did, at times sounding surprisingly lackluster and jaded. Even the sick lyrics seem to have suffered, seeming rushed and cobbled together at the last minute, it's all pretty disappointing knowing what the band have achieved previous to this as they certainly have the pedigree to create something better. Hell, even the production doesn't sound as raw sewage-caked as it used to. Rather than submerging you head-first into a lake of month old fetid pig shit, it merely gives the occasional whiff of farts.

So, all that sticks in the mind after taking in this release in its entirety is the fact that it's disappointingly tame in comparison to their previous efforts. It's more of a mild headache than a tumor. Sorry guys, but I felt this was a serious case of 'must try harder' or give it up altogether. Check out their earlier stuff before picking this up.

Originally written for www.metalcrypt.com

I'm a little surprised that the reviews for this record are mostly negative and the previous reviewers seem to want a different direction from Abscess. Taken on it's own merits, "Horrorhammer" is a completely solid, no bullshit death/punk record that simply gets the job done. Expecting more because of the pedigrees of Abscess's members (who have contributed to at least three classics: Death's "Scream Bloody Gore", Autopsy's "Severed Survival", and VON's "Satanic Blood Angel") is to miss the point. What you got here is a group of self-assured, nothing-to-prove death metal lifers playing a spread of genres that clearly inspired their earlier, more respected work. No new ground is being broken here but "Horrorhammer" is as comfortable as an old jean jacket.

As far as the tracks go, "Poison Messiah" could have been an outtake from Chris Reifert's old band; it has the same mid-paced, roiling groove and swagger that was Autopsy's take on death metal. "When Witches Burn" is a doom/death beast, not too far off from the '70s tripping on Autopsy's "Retribution for the Dead" ep. It's not all self-cannibalism, though. "Hellhole" is a thrasher/proto-death number in the Sodom/Kreator-vein, but sludgified, with completely unhinged vocals from Mr. Reifert. The punk numbers tend to alienate the death metal die-hards but they fit seamlessly into the sickness. "Another Private Hell" is a mean and violent hardcore song that seems to heft some of the "fuck you" 'tude from hatemongers like Negative Approach while keeping it fuzzy and downtuned. Speaking of bands that embody the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" philosophy, it might be odd to cite the Ramones as an influence on a record as ugly and loose as this, but "Four Grey Walls" is four buzzsaw chords and a catchy refrain that (cleaned up a bit and given the right vocals) could almost pass for one of the tough late-80s Ramones tracks.

You can probably play "spot the influence" on the rest of the tracks too but as you may see that, while certainly derivative, this is not simply a one-dimensional record. It's really an acknowledgement of all that was going on around the early death metal scene, a little nostalgic without any sappiness or attempts at recreating the past, a tribute of sorts to the influences on the old school from the people who know. Taken on those terms (and listened to blasting from a car stereo on the highway), "Horrorhammer" is a success.

I expected some pretty good things from Abscess’ latest release, despite being unfamiliar with long-running death metal outfit. I was easily won over by its Beksinski-style cover of rotting buildings, rising dead and monstrous eyeballs walking around on spider legs, and intrigued over vocalist/drummer Chris Reifer’s long-standing presence in the Californian death metal scene right from its infernal spawning in the mid-eighties, providing the drums for Death’s classic debut ‘Scream Bloody Gore’ (the only instrument not handled by Chuck Schuldiner) and immediately forming his own band Autopsy, which eventually morphed into Abscess. Thirdly, I thought the album title was really ace.

Abscess’ more recent trend (so I gather) has been a continuing progression towards a more punk- and grind-tinged form of death metal, resulting in brief albums full of short, sharp, repulsive shocks rather than striving for brutality. ‘Horrorhammer’ continues to mix harsh death metal vocals over relatively simplistic supporting guitars and drums, but the overall experience sounds somewhat mismatched and ineffective, lacking a fair amount of the energy and aggression to live up to the sickening demands of the lyrics. There isn’t much emphasis on crafting memorable compositions as much as a thirty-five minute hardcore-punk-death-metal buzz that weirdly seems to drag on even as it approaches its insubstantial finale.

‘Insubstantial’ is the main word on my mind, particularly in the shorter songs, some of which last less than two minutes with the majority coming in under three, as they speed by without making much of an impact and are instantly forgotten. Maybe I’m just more used to overlong, overcomplicated metal performances and I failed to grasp the punk mindset, but the majority of this album comes across as samey and repetitive mediocrity. Reifer’s vocals are the main focus but even these aren’t as powerful or gut-wrenching as those of other bands, too raspy to convey real aggression and too unintelligible to be catchy. His drums are similarly average, never overpowering the music with oppressive blast beats or double bass hammering, but opting instead to keep a fairly steady rhythm in the faster and slower sections alternating over the course of the album. Clint Bower and Danny Coralles provide the guitars which also suffer for being largely kept in the background, but occasionally throw out some enjoyable riffs that successfully balance between death metal and punk, and churning out some basic but irresistible squealy guitar solos at fairly random intervals in the true pink spirit. Joe Allen plays the bass. I think I noticed him about twice.

There’s no real pattern to the best songs on here, as one or two notable examples will usually be found floating on top of the mediocrity and may be of varied length. Initially, it tends to be the longer songs that have more going for them, the four-minute ‘Poison Messiah’ impressing with its unexpected and competent slower pace and occasional guitar flair, but mainly enjoyable for providing a break from the fast and furious pace of its predecessors. As the album drags on, the longer songs become increasingly tiresome, drawn-out and dull, to the point that the penultimate ‘March of the Plague’ runs out of steam before the half-way point. ‘When Witches Burn’ relies on some similarly unexpected but highly derivative Black Sabbath-style guitars and adds some truly evil vocals to make for one of the better offerings, but this too is undermined by ‘Beneath a Blood Red Sun’ which essentially does exactly the same thing, only dull and lacking completely in energy.

The majority of the album follows a similar course of fast, competent but uninspired guitars and drums providing a backing for Chris Reifer’s half-hearted yells, and due to the repetitive style between each song, these do work best when squashed between some of the slower or lengthier pieces. ‘Four Grey Walls’ stands out particularly well as a nice speedy song between the Sabbathesque tracks, and is perhaps the only instance where the death metal and punk influences truly meet each other in some kind of synthesis, extending to Reifer’s yells becoming less guttural and more audible for a change. The opening track ‘Drink the Filth’ performs its task adequately of introducing this style and spewing its pointlessly violent lyrics at the listener in a manner that it’s hard to resist shouting along with, whether you agree with the band’s rather unpopular stance or not, but the rest fail to stand out in the same way. ‘Horrorhammer’ itself is an enjoyable instrumental song that doesn’t descend into all-out masturbatory gratuity but restrains itself to replacing the vocals with more prominent guitars, featuring a nice subdued lead in the first half and a parade of fine riffs in the second. Despite having the opportunity to concentrate more fully on the percussion, Reifer sticks to a steady backing drum beat that’s a little disappointing.

Death metal is an excitingly wide-reaching genre, and there are plenty of other, better, more compelling ways to enjoy half an hour of aggression than this rather feeble performance, watered down by a sleek production job. Abscess’ back catalogue almost certainly holds far greater albums of note, especially if reaching back through Autopsy and right back to ‘Scream Bloody Gore,’ and despite being sweary, having a cool cover and a funny title, this album doesn’t slice it.

As much as everybody seems to hate Abscess, I really loved their earlier stuff. The punkish song and the raw sound created a sick atmosphere that illustrated their lyrics at perfection. But in this release they made something wrong. They cleaned up the sound.

Honestly I don't know if this tendence has been going on for some time since I passed from "Seminal Vampires and Maggot Men", right to this album, no inbetween. But what I can say is that now they sound much more harmless. The production is not a five stars one, but the it's way cleaner that before and that makes you focus in how simple is the music, instead of submerge you in a world of freaks, shit and sexual aberrations, like they used to do.

Another thing that helps this album to fall into averageness is, of course, the mediocrity of the songs. Most of them are totally forgettable, but in the second half the album picks up a little bit with the tracks Four Grey Walls (typical Abscess punk song, but not as powerful as Suicide Fuck, or Worm Sty Infection), Horrorhammer (a nice little instrumental) and Hellhole (the track that sounds more like the deformed and twisted Abscess we all love). But the sad thing is that even this named tracks are average songs, not only in the Death Metal realm, but also within the Abscess discography.

So, the album is not shit, but it simply doesn't stand apart of another 1000 releases. So if you feel like checking Abscess out, I reccomend you to get "Urine Junkies" or "Seminal Vampires and Maggot Men", and onle AFTER you heard those and IF you liked them, THEN get a copy of this one.