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ABIOSIS
Revelations Of Macabre

Self-released (2018)
Rating: 7.5/10

Don’t confuse these American death metallers with their fellow countrymen from California who split up in the 90s, or the UK act who also vanished in the same decade with two members going on to join My Dying Bride. In this instance, Abiosis hail from Salem, Oregon and their sound, although very much death metal, feels far more modern than the two other acts of the same moniker.

Revelations Of Macabre is the debut offering from this quartet whose line-up consists of Logan Williams (vocals and bass), Jake Mattison (vocals and guitar), Jesse Kangas (guitar) and Brandon Self (drums).

In my opinion, the combo revel in their brutality, taking up a hybridisation of, say, Deicide, Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse. This doesn’t come from their early, classic years but with this interesting platter, we still get a barrage of bludgeoning riffs, blistering speed, catchy slower, guttural segments and hammering extremity – all led by the gnarly guitar attack and that extremely chesty vocal expression.

For 49 minutes Abiosis come fully equipped with a savage death metal onslaught, cleverly knitted together blasting rhythms and grinding melodious streaks. At their fastest, Abiosis is a genuinely punishing act. Brandon Self works overtime for much of this pulverising shift; his frantic taps and skin slaps form raking machine gun attacks, but throughout one really gets more appreciative of the band when they slow. This is particularly evident on the climax of the title track and the opening strains of ‘Angelic Despoilment’, but one of course cannot ignore the hectic cacophony which riddles this platter.

‘Bound In Mortal Flesh’, with its snippet from Hellraiser (1987), is an utterly contemptible composition – the speed and heaviness just flays and slays – and the aforementioned ‘Angelic Despoilment’ is a fine example of the fusing of speed and slower, scathing melody as those barking vocals resonate around the room. Damn, if this had come out between 1994 and 1998 we’d still be frothing about Revelations Of Macabre now; tracks such as ‘From Sanity To Void’ just devilish in their structure with hyper percussion forged with staggering bass thrashes and that grizzly guitar tone.

‘Eternal Submission To Emptiness’ begins like an icy black metal track – the melody is rather dissonant before the sudden jerk of haste – while ‘Plains Of Abiosis’ just rolls like a deadly machine; a squirming melody escaping the barbed mass of impenetrable speed before those riffs tighten to a chesty chug.

It’s certainly not fusty like Tomb Mold or Mortuous, Abiosis exist on a different plateau; grumbling deep, but remaining clear of any sort of clogging grave fumes. Instead, it’s all about the vocal bark and the rhythmic bite as ‘Diarrhetic Immolation’ in rather comedic fashion begins with a series of anal eruptions before the swarming riffs take over, the percussion just relentlessly bashing the brain until the welcome silence takes hold. Yep, Revelations Of Macabre is a good death metal album; at times a tad no frills in its extremity, but always giving the listener a good kicking with its beefiness.

Neil Arnold

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