Genesis

Although I’m not the biggest fan of the musical styles presented on various albums I get to review, I’m still able to spot talent, and that I do find from Abacinate’s second full-length Genesis, a real mixed bag of influences.

For the most part, the album is technical death metal, but every now and then the vocals are pure hardcore / metalcore, and at times the music flirts with more apparent melody. For instance, the two-part ”Laughing in the Dark” goes into rather progressive territories, the first part having a surprisingly calmful and melodic ending, then suddenly bursting into metal on the second part. Personally, I really don’t dig the hardcore vocal output, but it does bring me back to my younger years when Biohazard was one of my favourite bands. The hardcore elements aren’t something I would listen to nowadays, but in the middle of all the solidly executed death metal, it’s bearable.

The production is definitely worth meantioning here: it’s very clear and heavy. And modern. That migh become a problem for someone, because Genesis doesn’t quite have the filthy morbidity of old school death metal when it comes to atmosphere. I prefer the latter but I do admit that the production here is done admirably anyways, fitting to the band’s tight style that only gains from the very sharp sound.

As anyone can derive from the above, Genesis isn’t the sort of death metal I truly enjoy and listen to on a daily basis, but I find the music - much thanks to the ass kicking production - effective to the extent that I’d call the album a successful release. Genesis is a recommendable piece for those who enjoy their brutal and technical death metal with a little bit of -core. Also, remember to give these compositions enough time, they aren’t that digestible after all, but do reward eventually.

2.5 / 5
[ http://www.vehementconjuration.com/ ]

This is one monster of a release! Close to 41 minutes of of pure, unbridled phrasal- aggression is simply not enough for the waxing listener when Abacinate is on the chopping board.

Some time ago, deathcore was invented for some reason or another, which spawned a ton of bands that basically pruned the style of a Suffocation/ Hatebreed hybrid and marketed it with full egos ago. Abacinate on the other hand is reminiscent of a style more along the lines of classic death metal (a la, mid-era Carcass, Morbid Angel, Deicide), with an augmentation of percussive motifs to contrast the ever-boring breakdown of the orthodox "new wave of american deathcore" circuit. Yes, this band truly stands opposed to the generica of money-making pretty-boy chug-a-thons.

Sometimes courage yields results, and in this case the Abacinate unit delivers an old-school death metal approach with updates from parallel years of metal proliferation. Rather than hiding an unwanted post-thrash fetish for Pantera, Lamb of God and the mighty Exhorder, Abacinate invokes ten tracks of street-clad, groove-laden, slamming death metal with finesse. Both guitarists follow a similar pattern in utilizing the ancient a-tonal style of classic death metal, with the insidious hint of cooperative harmonization all the way through. So sometimes it's like Dismember with blast beats. Other times, the tracks will defer in pace weave passages of percussive, timed-violent outbursts (Old Cannibal Corpse) that resemble more like bludgeons than palm-muted triplets and paradiddles. The key point is that there are no breakdowns in this album. If a breakdown by definition is a literal "break" from the traditional verse-chorus-verse etc... of your rock-standard, then Abacinate is completely free from these moments of banality. Genesis regards song structures with the same reverence as classic Morbid Angel or Deicide, is that there is no formulaic method of lower-appeal. By definition, breakdown is not a chapter in the Abacinate spell book. Like Richard Wagner, the songs move like breathing organisms (a trait of real metal), rather than stagnate into rock excuses. Fortunately, this serves to solidify Abacinate into the category of "true" death metal. Unfortunately, this means that they will never be popular, because the best "good" music is never popular. People have a tendency to like ritualism rather than freedom from form or standard (also known as originality).

The romanticist elements of "Genesis" temporarily wane in succession of Cro-Magian slamming, which brings to mind gang-warfare incited by a violent, yelled obscenity, only to return to their blasting, thrashing nihilism in the truest nietzschean sense. 90/100 because it's too short. I'm left wanting more.

Often bands come along that are good - no doubt about it - but you have a hard time connecting with them, even if they incorporate many elements you love to hear in your death metal. ABACINATE is one of those bands. But there is so much on this menu called Genesis that you'd be advised to take a bite or two before making up your mind if this is something you want to invest in.

ABACINATE can be lumped in with bands often referred to as "modern death metal" or "new school death metal" (when a school stops being new and becomes old, is a predicament the band in question and many of its peers face). But as with a large chunk of ambitious N-American death metal bands de la journée, there's little new going on even though there's a whole lot influences and ideas in place. In doing so, ABACINATE risk not sticking in people's mind after that fateful first listen.

As mentioned, there's tons of extreme metal elements - that at this point, have become conventional - flying in your face at high speeds. Later day Cannibal Corpse, dash of Deicide, Skinless (big chunks of said skin), Misery Index (the hyper aggression, hard sounding drums and blast beats), sprinkles of Pantera (look no further than second track "Disturbing Remedies For A Desperate Disease") and even 90's street-style metalcore, not unlike Brooklyn's Merauder ("Purveyors Of Scum"). Even though ABACINATE lend themselves to multi-part songs with fast tremola picking, pull-off riffs and rapid fretboard up 'n' downs they break it down with hard as nails mosh parts (some of which are tad bit conservative) that will appeal to the more savage amongst the dance-floor warriors. So you got that, fist-pumping, headbanging, horns, couple of stoner riffs (C.O.C.), groove and even some US thrash ala Exodus/Anthrax in "The Harmless Walk". Although sufficiently mixed up in their blender (grinder?) Genesis sounds very familiar.
ABACINATE are great students of varieties of extreme metal, but I cannot help thinking they crammed too much of everything into a ten song record (even two instrumental tracks!). One can hardly fault them for ripping any one band off but Genesis is sometimes like a pizza with way too many toppings, so you really cannot tell what it should taste like or what is its strength.
Riff overdose? Too eager to share? I think so.

"Purveyors..." must be mentioned again too illustrate the hyper-active nature of these New Jersey boys. Yes, there's that ultra hard Merauder/Diecast part, but the very same song opens with an insanely catchy "Where The Slime Live" (Morbid Angel) type of riff, additionally to that there's are sweet stoner strokes into death-core-like breakdown as to appeal to the younger demography, in case they spin Genesis.
My favorite moment of the record comes via "Necroplunger". Something fantastic happens. 1:47 into the song, after alarming raging, the band starts sounding like Svart Crown meets Lewd Acts. I'm not shitting you! It's magic! But before you can get lost in it, the tracks switches colors again. Which in the end, happens across the board. But said moment is a brilliant one. More of that. Less of everything else, I say.

Although this review pleads for newer lines to be drawn and more focus and a unified feel that is missing, let it be known that ABACINATE are extremely good at what they do. The performance is stellar, vocals varied, James Murphy style solos and a delicious snare-drum sound (a rare feet in Death Metal). Odds are that you will be more at peace with Genesis than me, because they have a lot to offer. Check 'em out. - Birkir Fjalar

This review originally appeared February 20, 2011 on http://www.halifaxcollect.blogspot.com

Abacinate are a rare breed in that they've managed to combine the traditional, brutal US death style with the medium of huge hardcore grooves and not come away annoying the listener. They've got more than their share of technical ability, and you'll hear this as the guitarists Todd Stern and Dan Higgins weave their way through a plethora of riffs, but the real draw is their street level presence. This is felt through the blunt instrument of the vocals, and the persistent use of urban samples to create what I might dare to label 'gangsta death metal'. I know, I know, it sounds like something that should in no way possibly succeed, and yet in the hands of these hungry New Jersey menaces, it works as intended, especially when one takes into account the loss of 'Plunger' Sica, the vocalist, who passed away last September, and is immortalized through this very record.

Now, there are some points on the album where Abacinate lapse into an all too generic, chugging mosh strut (like "The Natural Disasters" Earth Crisis-like breakdown, between the better riffs), but other tracks like "Night of the Desirable Objects" and "Purveyors of Scum" deliver them as if Madball and Biohazard were jamming with Skinless. The latter even has a massive, Pantera-styled death groove in the closing moment, and yet it's all quite seamless. Further examples are the fine instrumentals "Laughing in the Dark" parts I and II, where the band cycles from progressive, stoner/concrete groove hooks into melodic whittling, both easily surviving the lack of vocal presence due to the great guitars; or the mechanical chug death of "An American Obsession", to which I feel it almost impossible to stand still, despite the primacy of its knuckles-first composition. One can merely close the eyes and envision the misspent youth in their masculine windmills of violence, letting out their aggression on fellow dancers and unsuspecting crowd-goers both. An image I usually find annoying, but strangely poignant here.

Abacinate might catch some flak for their rather broad palette of styles, but regardless there's something here for a lot of listeners, whether you prefer gut stomping, semi technical death metal or tough guy antics. There is something quintessentially East Coast and American about this act, sort of similar to the band Burning Human but with a wider range of to explore. There are few if any perfect songs found on Genesis, but each has some modicum of charm, in particular to those listeners with the appropriate level of steam to blow off. Charm like a tire iron throwdown, and not at all expected.

-autothralll
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com