For those who either question or doubt the ability of a female to put in a scintillating display of guttural death roars and fantastic screams over the top of an incredible technically proficient barrage of blast beats and lightning fast guitars, they need look no further than this. 2012 has been a good year in general for the metal world and in the death metal scene there has been some fantastic albums as well. This has been a year that has gifted us a new Nile album, the finest Cannibal Corpse experience in years and a new Dying Fetus masterpiece. On the first of June this year however there was one particular album that has not been given a fraction of the attention it deserves. The album I speak of is of course the debut of Abnormality, entitled Contaminating The Hive Mind. [1]
Upon discovering this band and listening to their previous EP and demo I was very impressed, but the sound quality of the demo and EP didn't really do the band a service, but they were still satisfying in their content. Upon purchasing this album and subsequently listening to the first track, I was immediately blown away by the brutal and technical guitar and bass riffing that precisely follows the brutal drumming. The guitar riffs on this album are very satisfying in their content with plenty of brutal tremolo picked riffs, and occasional slams, obnoxious technical solos. The dual guitar assault can get quite obnoxious with the buzzing tremolo riffs with the most brutal sounding riff coming on the track Taste of Despair. The bassist on this album precisely follows the guitarist and drummer and doesn't just follow what the guitarists are doing. The bass is very audible and adds to the brutality and technicality of this album. The drumming is amazing and very satisfying, but isn't the highlight of this album despite being extremely well done with very incredible patterns. The drummer at times makes me think of a drum machine with the cold and calculated assault that the drummer provides. The vocals on this album are superior to so many other vocalists of the death metal sub-genre. She performs deep guttural exhale growls that out do so many other artists. Her inhale vocals are very well performed and avoid sounding like those awful 'wree wree' vocals so many artists seem to like to perform. She also utilizes black metal high growls that add another pleasant element to this album. [2]
Tracks
- Monarch Omega
- A Chaos Reserved
- Fabrication of the Enemy
- Taste of Despair
- Schismatic
- Hatred Relentless
- Shooting the Messenger
- Contaminating the Hive Mind
If you like it, please buy it on their official website/merchandise.
Abnormality - Contaminating the Hive Mind (2012)
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