Abjection - Malignant Devotion
Canada’s four piece of death metal, Abjection, are a force to be reckoned with on their debut EP, “Malignant Devotion.” Conjuring up sounds that are similar to the likes of older Deicide, Immolation, and other 90s death metal groups, the raw buzzing guitars, echoing growls, and haunting solos shrouded in distortion make for a short collection of engaging tunes that any fan of cookie cutter death metal would enjoy. While the group does nothing new here, they take some of the best elements of the genre at its fastest and display it in 6 tracks. Some of them tend to go by a bit fast like ‘An Illusion Of Sleep’ or ‘Nightmares Awoken’ and will leave listeners wanting a little more, especially when it comes to the guitar solos, but there are the more meaty tracks as well such as ‘The Black Stag’ which inject a bit more groove amongst the distortion, adding breakdowns that do more than just deliver fast riffs and overwhelming drumming, despite the impressive speed.
Abjection seem to do their best work when they inch their way forth versus full on charge, such as on ‘Darkness Unatterable.’ While there is plenty of speed in the riffs that makes this in no way a sludge death metal piece, despite the distortion, the band tends to do things a little differently, especially with the bass, using the distortion more for atmosphere more than a way of conveying full on ear bludgeoning that is guaranteed to slaughter the ear hole in the way a track like ‘The Madness Within’ does. The faster tracks are certainly less merciful and demonstrate everything an aggressive death metal piece should be, but at the same time within these faster ones the variety of riffs and drumming feels lost. Many tracks seem like they blend together in a lot of places. It takes the groove bits of the riffs in a lot of the middle of the tracks to pull listeners out of their confusion to find some differentiation.
As a result, some may find “Malignant Devotion” a bit too cut and dry for their tastes, but one cannot deny the ferocity of what the group delivers with. While these guys are certainly no Archspire or Ulcerate where they have something specific they can stand out on (ala technicality or distortion), Abjection is a thunderous offering that builds upon itself. If one likes their death metal loud, fast, and I the vein of groups anywhere from Barnes era Cannibal Corpse to “Here in After” by Immolation,, then they are really going to dig this.
3 / 5 STARS
Abjection seem to do their best work when they inch their way forth versus full on charge, such as on ‘Darkness Unatterable.’ While there is plenty of speed in the riffs that makes this in no way a sludge death metal piece, despite the distortion, the band tends to do things a little differently, especially with the bass, using the distortion more for atmosphere more than a way of conveying full on ear bludgeoning that is guaranteed to slaughter the ear hole in the way a track like ‘The Madness Within’ does. The faster tracks are certainly less merciful and demonstrate everything an aggressive death metal piece should be, but at the same time within these faster ones the variety of riffs and drumming feels lost. Many tracks seem like they blend together in a lot of places. It takes the groove bits of the riffs in a lot of the middle of the tracks to pull listeners out of their confusion to find some differentiation.
As a result, some may find “Malignant Devotion” a bit too cut and dry for their tastes, but one cannot deny the ferocity of what the group delivers with. While these guys are certainly no Archspire or Ulcerate where they have something specific they can stand out on (ala technicality or distortion), Abjection is a thunderous offering that builds upon itself. If one likes their death metal loud, fast, and I the vein of groups anywhere from Barnes era Cannibal Corpse to “Here in After” by Immolation,, then they are really going to dig this.
3 / 5 STARS
1. Of Consuming Decay
2. An Illusion Of Sleep
3. The Black Stag
4. Nightmares Awoken
5. The Madness Within
6. Darkness Unatterable
2. An Illusion Of Sleep
3. The Black Stag
4. Nightmares Awoken
5. The Madness Within
6. Darkness Unatterable
