ABORTED
ManiaCult
2021, Century Media
Waylon Thurston runs the ManiaCult, so the story goes. He humbly, or maybe not, invites you in for a front row experience in ABORTED’s new album of the very same name. Draw back the curtain.
ManiaCult is the 11th album on offer from ABORTED, and, after a bit of slump, is billed as being the next installment in a run of excellent albums. I mean, at least it is in the advertising I make up in my head. Having been bashing about since 1995, it is not hard to imagine that Sven and the rest of ABORTED would have settled into a nice groove (natch), but in reality the opposite is true. The band is consistently pushing forward and, believe it or not, ManiaCult is a concept piece with a fully realized storyline of unknowable and unnameable stuff of nightmarish curiosities.
Deathgrind atmosphere is, at its black blood pumping heart, meant to suffocate the listener. “Verdef” does a great job of this, being eerie, as well as enticing, pricking up the skin on the back of the neck in anticipation of a straight up beating. Enter the title track, and make The Face. You know the one. Hell, my wife even knows the one. Plainly put, that riff is bigger than "Cthulu", and meaner. And yer damn right ABORTED bring it back, but slower. No four count or ting needed. Why does ManiaCult not come with a warning label about neck damage?! This is setting up to be one helluva ride.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have met Sven although he likely does not remember. So, I hope to do so again. I make mention of it only because ABORTED is really his vision, and on ManiaCult, that vision is at once fully realized. It is an ugly, beautiful, and messy vision. It is razor sharp, but not without its surprises that I, for one, certainly did not see coming. Give a wink to metalcore. Seriously, get on your dancing shoes (looking at you BENIGHTED, and Julien).
"Portal to Vacuity" starts off like it is going to head straight for the type of build you’d expect from FFAO but then takes a hard turn into almost black metal territory before bashing your skull in with riffs then flirting with electronic embellishments. And that’s in the first two minutes. The atmospherics don’t let up, and they don’t falter or feel forced in any way. They are a plot device within the larger narrative (I need a lyric sheet) and also a set-up for the strongest mid section on any album I have heard this year. If it was a muscle group, ManiaCult would dare you to punch it. Go ahead, try.
Following up is, well, CARCASS. There is no other way for me to describe "Dementophobia". The gang vocals don’t hurt at all, and the double kicks prove that in fact, one Advil is not often enough. The solo is bliss. I don’t know how ABORTED stuffed 20 years of CARCASS into one song, but yeah, that’s a thing that happened.
"A Vulgar Quagmire"> would almost be blackened hardcore if not for that undercurrent of atmospherics that find themselves peppered into ManiaCult. I know there are guest vocals on this album, but honestly, the performance of de Caluwé is absolutely stunning, otherworldly, grandiose, and sick. I mean sick as in good, blech.
The beatings will continue until, oh right, they never stop. After the instrumental (!) slow burn of "Verbolgen", the riffs once again start coming (and they don’t stop coming). And, whether throwback by design or intent, the 808 drop is back in a huge way on "Ceremonial Ineptitude", which is also one of the best song titles I have heard in some time.
There is no fat to trim here, no space wanting for more or different furnishings. ManiaCult is easily and handily the single best album (so far) that ABORTED has crafted. It is a multifaceted and ultimately imminently engaging listen in a genre that at once the band helped create, but also one that can suffer from the weight of its own hubris. Not so with ManiaCult. But make no mistake, it is amazingly, and astoundingly, heavy. So take Waylon up on his offer to tell you a story, to be the story, to feel its tendrils gently caress your cheek… You won’t be disappointed, and may see the beyond in all things. R’lyeh, would I lie to you?
5.0 Out Of 5.0
