Review Summary: We may lie dormant but are never truly dead.
For almost 30 years now, Aborted’s authoritative presence in the extreme metal cosmos has made them a trademark name with a clearly recognizable sound and quite pivotal releases for the genre. The band’s prolific early beginnings gave way to more modernized but still highly aggressive albums in the 00’s, a decade that was a bit of hit or miss for them. However, the originally Belgium-based outfit went through a revitalization process and charted a positive course with 2012’s overly accomplished Global Flatline, steadily gaining momentum thereafter.
After a series of releases with portmanteau word titles, the 12th album Vault of Horrors, has to my eyes the most fitting phrase to describe the whole essence of the group. With another sublimely grotesque cover art to go along with it, these horror-obsessed maniacs present yet another bouquet of adrenaline-filled tracks, inspired from numerous cult classic thriller’s from the 80’s that are left for the listener to discover themselves. Nevertheless, Vault of Horrors will most likely catch your attention not because of the aforementioned source of inspiration, which comes as no surprise when considering this band, but when you have a look at the pretty astonishing companionship of guest vocalists featured in each and every track of the record.
As expected, Aborted once again move in frenetic tempos, blasting incessant, merciless riff progressions and a bombastic production to underline the ongoing havoc established already with the opener “Dreadbringer” (with Shadow of Intent’s Ben Duerr). The track’s synth-built introduction is a neat addition towards a more epic side of the band, which is also evident in pieces like “Hellbound” (with Matt McGachy of Cryptopsy) and “The Golgothan” (with Hal Microutsicos of Engulf). There’s numerous maniacal deathgrind sequences throughout the album, with the most representative example being the absolute banger “Insect Politics” (with Jason Evans of Ingested), a clear highlight in terms of aggression and extremity. Notable are also the numerous sparkling solos as well as the generally prominent guitar work, partly resulting from the addition of the new guitarist Daniel Mani Konrathsson, who is also active in the Icelandic tech / melodeath band Ophidian I.
The band has been balancing between grindcore and modern death metal like highwire artists for a while now, but Vault of Horrors has potentially the most tangible deathcore leanings compared to any other Aborted album, even rocking a few pretty straightforward breakdown sections, e.g. in “Death Cult” (featuring Alexandre Erian of Despised Icon) or “The Shape of Hate” (with Oliver Rae Aleron of Archspire). However, there reside the underlying weak points of the album for me, in a handful of slightly anticlimactic parts in a couple of songs, such as the beginning of “Brotherhood of Sleep” (with Johnny Ciardullo of Angelmaker) and the latter part of “Natorum Demonto” (with David Simonich – Signs of the Swarm).
Thankfully, these moments are fleeting and do not undermine the overall favorable impression left after listening to Vault of Horrors. The closing track “Malevolent Haze” (with Ricky Hoover of Suffokate / Ov Sulfur) has it all: swift bellicose opening melodies, potent hardcore breakdown grooves in the middle and then a captivating ending, concluding Vault of Horrors in an almost gracious manner. I would personally fully cherish a whole album just with tracks like “Insect Politics” because that’s where this band thrives for me, but I can’t help but recognize their ambitious intentions behind this new record, which is and is not “yet another Aborted album”, at the same time. By recruiting so many remarkable musicians from death metal / deathcore’s state of the art, the magnitude and impact of this enterprise becomes even greater, and represents a distinguishable next step in the band's discography.
