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STATIC ABYSS
Aborted From Reality

Peaceville (2023)
Rating: 9/10

Channelling the Gothic quicksand drudgery of early Paradise Lost and the slime-coated horrors of Autopsy, demented American duo Static Abyss returns with another dragging opus of macabre brilliance.

Following on from last year’s impressive horror show Labyrinth Of Veins, Aborted From Reality stalks the same fetid swamps by greedily slurping up a grisly mix of quagmire moss, bayou algae and bone marrow. Although riddled with those maddening and maniacal moments of pace, this album seems best comfortable wading slowly through stinking pits of human waste to the point where you can hear the squelching footfalls related through those aching guitar tones, soggy drums and bass lines which ooze with sediment and silt.

The title track, and more so the dragging ‘Cathedral Of Vomit’ highlight the slogging, sluggish nature of Static Abyss as crusted creators Chris Reifert (vocals and drums) and Greg Wilkinson (guitar and bass) cherry pick nightmarish noises from their other bands, present and past (Autopsy / Death / Abscess / The Ravenous / Brainoil / Deathgrave), to combine with further deranged ingredients, all served up as a lumpy, congealed stew consisting of gristle, bone, cysts and bubbling pus.

Even with its pustulent chugs (‘Poisoned Limbs’ and ‘Wormskinned’) and rabid outbursts (‘Crosses And Coffins’ and ‘Cerebral Ghost’) there remains that spine of squalid punkiness which is simply slowed down and drawn out for the doomier sludgefests (‘Mind Tentacles’ and ‘The Static Abyss’).

Morose, miserable, morbid and murderous in equal measure, Aborted From Reality confirms my belief that Static Abyss is more than just a fleeting side project and instead exists as a creeping, seeping slurry that deserves as much praise as the better known bands that Reifert and Wilkinson are noted for. I can’t wait for the next season of the abyss to roll round.

Neil Arnold

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