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Aborym > Psychogrotesque > Reviews
Aborym - Psychogrotesque

Absolute sickness - 70%

lordazmolozmodial, June 24th, 2012

And after years of cold comfort, on the trains, walking through the cities, absolutely alone, accompanied by that masterpiece that is Generator [editor: Aborym's previous album], we were so impatient at the news of new recording sessions, live dates, etc...So, finally, here we go! Fabban &co. deliver the ultimate gem, again under Season of Mist, that comes to eclipsing 90% of recent black metal releases. Psychogrotesque explodes with content, as the morbid and chilling halo of buzzing insect (not Dimmu Borgir's swarm of flies) spreads out through the songs. Broken glass, a disquieting heartbeat, footsteps and a saxophone all joined perfectly forming a global sound.

In the last years the line up has changed drastically; Prime Evil is no longer part of the band and Fabban has moved to the vocals, Nysrok left and a new guitarist enters, Hell:I0: Kabbalus. Moreover, you will find a wide variety of guest musicians, on vocals, electronics and guitars as Narchost (Malfeitor), Karyn Crisis (Crisis), Giulio Moschini (Hour Of Penance) and Davide Tiso (Ephel Duath) just to name a few.

The album is split up in ten “periods” ( the hidden track excluded, that's simply an outro ) that simply compose that argument, that mood, that message...Forget about the “pure black metal” songs kept in your mind one by one as Fabban says: "This album is not made for angry children wearing a Darkthrone t-shirt and a reversed cross".

Psychogrotesque needs to be listened to in it's entirety, and the opinion can be made only after one has felt the effects on one's body and mind. The album starts with a sick intro, full of noises enveloped in a morbid environment completed by guitar notes, that ushers us into man's diseased reality surrounded by the stench,the flies and the parasites. Song II and song III recall back Generator with their black metal branded “Aborym”, never too fast or too noised, but simply violent...and violent they will result to you, maybe as the highlight of the album. Song IV is a spoken interlude, I suggest a translation to none the none Italian, the lyrics reek of putrid in contrast with the music.

In the middle of the album one will find the most experimental part, in which saxophones make the star cameo, among mid-tempos and opera vocals, making song V and VI so interesting allowing us to perceive the future directions of Aborym's sound. Song V and VI remain the most intensive and the most pathos-packed part of the album, although perhaps missing something in violence, but revealing more sickness than many other feats of black metal. Passing through song VII, beautiful and charged with despair, we arrive at the end of the album with some interludes, in which electronic noises make a comeback (song VIII), and with song X, an example of the evolution of a band without betraying their roots, in which there are many excellent guitar solos.

The overall evaluation is more than positive, but sincerely this album's chemistry misses Nysrok ( the ex-guitarist ) to the point of not being a real masterpiece, having lost in strength and songwriting, the electronic parts don't project the image the futuristic and malformed world. These are elements that Nysrok added and which are now missing. We hope Fabban doesn't lose the right way, remembering that Aborym is a priority and not the side project to experiment on.

The lifeblood of the bands that have the highest levels of songwriting will flow until they have passion and devotion; Aborym was , and is, a symbol of what I just mentioned. For these reasons Fabban & Co. have been at the top of the genre in the last years. Now enjoy this excellent release and savor it as a delicacy which's taste you will feel only after a while... and hope for the future!

Originally written for:
www.jorzine.com

Subject of repeated listens - 90%

The_Ghoul, May 19th, 2012

Aborym gets a lot of flak because, lets face it, a lot of black metalheads aren't too fond of anything approaching dance music. Aborym's prime influence outside of the metal world seems to be gothic industrial. If that's not your thing, then I'm sure there's another 1349 replica just aching for more listeners out there. However, that IS my thing, and on Psychogrotesque, Aborym delivers what we expect from them: nihilistic riffs, macabre synths, rapid drums, industrial hardstyle breaks, morbidly psychedelic atmosphere, and a storyline to boot.

Like the character who peers out on the album cover, this album has a claustrophobic feel to it. The drums have virtually no reverberation to them; the guitars sound uglier and less expansive than previous releases, and the atmosphere is one of human decay, rather than genocide of humans. The album's story follows the decay of a man's mind, and as the album progresses, Psychogrotesque gets more delirious and less coherent. I was quite dismayed that long-time guitarist Nysrok Infernalien is no longer with Aborym, just as I was saddened by Sethlans and Attila's departures, but Hell-I0-Kabbalus (one hell of a name if you ask me) seems to be a fitting replacement. His involvement is more than Nysrok's was, but Fabban's distinctive style is still present throughout the album.

Overall, what we have is a scattered mess; riffs lie strewn around, and the organic frailty of the disordered riffing clashes headlong into the cold, robotic, calculation of the programmed synths. That may sound like a bit much to the casual listener, but it is quite a rewarding listen. Unlike With No Human Intervention's cold, warlike, hyper-logical structure, and Generator's post-apocalyptic totalitarian unity, Psychogrotesque is visceral, harrowing, and bleak; in this world, there is just no victor from without, just a decaying planet, a decaying people, with minds and bodies rotting away in the darkness.

Psychogrotesque is, at the heart of it, ugly and insane. There is nothing noble about it, nothing heroic. There are no epic storylines, just a sickening narrative of someone's utter disintegration. If black metal with synths, samples, hardstyle breaks, and horrifying harmonies is your thing, then listen -- but at your own risk.

Can Not Compute - 42%

GuntherTheUndying, April 20th, 2011

I think it’s pretty clear that Aborym’s best works are behind them and lately they’ve been slumping a bit. “Psychogrotesque” continues the band’s twisted integration of black metal and industrial influences, but I feel these pioneering masters are beginning to look a little confused at their own design. The album is generally daft, barring a few tracks or sections that at least zap the robotic demon to half of its capability. I guess the industrial overtones bring substance, but the group’s instrumental attack renders it useless, almost like the electronic influences aren’t pivotal or necessary for Aborym’s continuance. Overall it’s a fairly schizophrenic listen, and “Psychogrotesque” is merely a shadow of Aborym’s accomplishments compared to its previous atrocities.

The whole album feels like it's very mundane despite its abstract nature. Aborym usually twists into heavy riffs or tremolo picking layered in Faust's precise percussion and haunting keyboards, but somehow it all feels very powerless. The vocals are about what you'd expect with some extra perks, including but not limited to shrieks, narration, and clean singing. Then again, Aborym has made a legacy from venturing outside the frozen box, so that's to be expected. Unfortunately, most of Aborym's musical machine runs around the standard accessibility of samples and electronics instead of actually applying the industrial tones to benefit the record; it's really nothing more than a plastic failsafe. They occasionally hit the nail on the head, but those moments are few and far between, and "Psychogrotesque" punches like a gutted teddy bear overall.

It's not that the band is incapable of performing well on an instrumental spectrum; their music is just weak and tired. "III" and "VIII" are the best segments, with both bringing the industrial traits to the forefront of the band's blueprint. Not only are the two cuts enjoyable, but memorable too; something most of "Psychogrotesque" sadly isn’t. They sometimes jump way off the cliff and throw in saxophone solos or other avant-garde touches, but once again, the overall effort isn't cured in a significant manner. The interlude tracks are cool for general weirdness and morbidity; however, the infatuation quickly fades into nothingness after a few listens, much like the rest of the album.

It seems to me that "Psychogrotesque" would benefit greatly if the industrial tenor was placed at a higher extreme than the generic black metal assault the Italian group uses for an overwhelming majority of their fifth full-length. The record's best moments are clearly planted in the avant-garde shades and electronic numbers; whereas the industrial bloodline becomes nothing more than a trivial surrounding once Aborym shrouds the listener in a blackened sea of sameness, done before and better by countless others. It would be foolish to disregard Aborym's importance, so definitely check out their earlier works if you aren't familiar with them, but I wouldn't bother with this unless you're a die-hard follower.

This review was written for: www.Thrashpit.com

Industrial Black Metal, and Much More - 70%

FullMetalAttorney, November 22nd, 2010

Aborym is an Italian industrial black metal band who have been combining the two styles longer than just about anybody else. Even after 18 years, they haven't had very many copycats, as it's not easy to combine black metal's signature tremolo riffing with the staccato rhythms usually associated with industrial. But Aborym clearly knows how it's done.

The tracks (ten of them, plus a hidden track) are simply given a Roman numeral for a title. Sometimes, they're almost purely industrial metal, as on "VIII" the guitars are somewhat in the background of the rhythm section while a synth melody and industrial drumming are at the forefront. Other times, they blend black metal and industrial together expertly. "II" is built on a thrashy black metal riff with a synth melody interwoven, but then moves into simple tremolo riffing with industrial atmosphere. "III" starts on an industrial rhythm but moves into blast beats.

Most of it is fast-paced, but there are times when it moves slower. "X", for instance, starts thrashy and moves into a thrash-style solo before slowing down to a simple discordant riff and weird strings providing atmosphere. The vocals tend toward black metal rasping, but there are some clean vocals and spoken word styles.

You would think combining industrial and black metal would make them unique enough, but Aborym don't limit themselves to the normal tools of the trade, employing saxophone, female operatic singing, very strangely played strings, and a creepy "Over the Rainbow" music box.

OK, so that sounds like a lot of elements that shouldn't fit together. But it does, because everything seems to stay in its place. As a rule, the synths provide the melodies, while the guitars provide the aggression, and the other odd elements are brought in for atmosphere. They don't try to wedge the sax into a section with blast beats, or throw the thrashy riffs over industrial rhythms. And it's all held together by a kind of paranoid feeling that matches the album art.

Some of it (like the industrial atmosphere tracks) is more or less filler, and a couple tracks are forgettable, but there are some definitely memorable highlights ("II", "V", and "X").

The Verdict: Aborym stay near the edge of extreme metal and mix it up, but they seem to have an innate sense for knowing when and how to break the rules. It's not a perfect album by any means, but it's entirely unique.

originally written for http://fullmetalattorney.blogspot.com/