ALBUM REVIEW: Vault Of Horrors – Aborted

ABORTED have been around since 1995, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it. While they haven’t garnered the mainstream attention of some of their death metal counterparts, they have still been crushing it year after year with a huge cult following screaming their praises. Some would even regard them as icons of the scene and after diving into the back catalogue and now their latest release Vault Of Horrors, you’d find it hard to argue with that. 

The band’s sound has shifted over the years, but the death metal blueprint has always been there. After something of a reintroduction with Retrogore, the band have shifted into modern times. Vault Of Horrors is an amalgamation of their entire discography, while the crisp and polished production from Dave Otero allows the band to sound up to date with the new age of death metal and deathcore bands.  

The album opens with Dreadbringer, which is aptly named due to its building intro. This is one of their best opening tracks as of late and sets the tone for what’s to come. It’s home to the first of many guest spots on the album, as SHADOW OF INTENT frontman Ben Duerr lends his fierce growls to this one. Unfortunately, he doesn’t quite make as big of an impact as he could have, but he still fits in perfectly with the track and compliments Sven Du Calwue’s vocals well – these being a great mix of low growls and higher forced screams that sound utterly demonic.

The intro to next track Condemned To Rot shows the band almost leaning towards deathcore before it fires straight back into the blastbeat frenzy and relentless riffing. The track opens up midway with a soaring solo. Fourth track and lead single Death Cult is an early highlight due to the appearance of Alex Erian of DESPISED ICON and his visceral one-two vocal attack with Du Calwue. It also boasts some sizeable grooves and the tag-teamed vocal reprise of the track title will no doubt be a popular addition to their live sets.  

The guitars on Vault Of Horrors are crushing, once again thanks to the clean production from Otero, but even with that shine they still sound brutal and devastatingly heavy. There’s a great balance with every single instrument and it will come down to personal preference on whether that floats your boat or not. You can’t argue that it’s not in keeping with today’s death metal and deathcore bands.  

Hellbound is a great follow-up and boasts a moody atmosphere before you’re pummelled by Insect Politics which flies headfirst in the other direction, INGESTED’s Jason Evans bringing Slamchester’s finest to the party. It’s a short but vicious number that even throws in a ‘blegh’ for good measure. Each track brings a particular horror to the table but while there is a plethora of guest appearances, a few struggle to stand out on their own. Thankfully there are tracks like The Shape Of Hate featuring Oliver Aleron of tech-death behemoths ARCHSPIRE that shove their way to the forefront and showcase what these guest spots can achieve.  

The album concludes with Malevolent Haze, and Ricky Hoover from OV SULFUR adds his vocal chops to what culminates in an earth-shattering breakdown, just in case you weren’t already finished off by the other nine tracks that have come before it. As the album slowly starts to fade away in a blaze of melancholy you realise that this has been a fantastic listening experience from a band that have continued to smash everything in front of them.  

ABORTED have unleashed the fire and ferocity of youth even this far into their career, which is a testament to their abilities. They have penned ten unrelenting slabs of modern death metal and thrown them together in a Vault Of Horrors with their brutal buddies to accompany them. Grotesquely great stuff. 

Rating: 8/10

Vault Of Horrors is set for release on March 15th via Nuclear Blast Records.

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