Abacinate seem to have been crawling through the underground for quite some time, with a legacy of split releases and EPs in their wake. `Genesis’ is the second full-length release from this New Jersey crew of brutalizers, and it is certainly a professional and polished affair, as well as being crushingly heavy in places.
It is certainly an odd beast though, and may alienate some – there is quite a mix of different styles on the album, and it has rather a schizophrenic nature. If someone were to describe the blend of music on this album to me, it would put me off it instantly. However, it is definitely worth sticking around and giving this gang a chance, as there are some mighty metal treats on offer.
So what exactly do we have here? A large part of this album is brutal US death metal, so chunky it would put a Yorkie bar to shame. There are a huge pile of gargantuan riffs and frenetic metal meltdowns that would please any fan of Suffocation, as well as some exceptional melodic passages. It is certainly clear that Abacinate are excellent musicians and can effectively crank out any shade of metal they choose to. However, they also somehow manage to mix their brutal delights with some East Coast hardcore, complete with breakdowns, stompy bits and a lot of urban swagger, as well as some Pantera-style groove. Believe it or not metal fans; somehow it all seems to meld together into a single musical chimera, albeit a raging angry beast with several heads and quite a few dangerous-looking limbs.
Death metal mixed with hardcore is normally a recipe to churn the stomach of the dedicated death metal fan and yet here I am, listening to it without even a gag or a hint of bile. It does of course help that the album is produced immaculately, with a huge, crushing guitar sound, and the vocals are a constant roar of belligerent rage, be they deep and guttural or the more throaty variety
. This isn’t really an album of songs so much, more of a collection of very heavy moments, which are liberally scattered throughout the album. Catchiness doesn’t even come into it, and like a terrible angler there is a noticeable absence of hooks. What this album does very effectively however, is pummel you in a variety of interesting ways, from various different angles.
It’s hard to say who would be really into Abacinate and their unusual blend of styles; the hardcore fans my dislike all the metal noodling and theatrics, and the death metal fans may certainly dislike the swaggering beatdowns, stomping Biohazard-inspired parts. However, anyone who likes powerful, crushing, heavy and diverse music will certainly find at least one thing in this album that they will enjoy.
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