LIVE REVIEW: Aborted @ Rebellion, Manchester

Belgian Death-Metallers ABORTED make their return to Manchester, the latest stop on a run of UK shows leaving nothing but destruction in their wake. This year saw the release of their excellent tenth studio album TerrorVision, which is packed with brutality and poignant statements on the current global shit-show we’re all living through. With the band having such a wide catalogue of tracks to draw from, expectations were high for a set to appease new fans and hardcore lifers alike. Hitting Rebellion with CRYPTOPSY, local boys INGESTED and UNFATHOMABLE RUINATION in tow, the atmosphere was never going to be anything other than volatile, explosive, and filled with an intensity that not many can match.

Unfortunately, due to Manchester’s gridlocked road infrastructure, we missed UNFATHOMABLE RUINATION. So, by the time we hit the venue, INGESTED took to the stage, backed by illuminated, casket-dwelling corpses, and decaying severed heads on spikes. Expanding on this morbid imagery, the band ruthlessly exploded into a merciless set to shock-and-awe their hometown crowd. Their innate acumen forged over their 12-year history as a band stands strongly at the forefront when listening to their recordings – but proved to be even more impressive when witnessed in a live setting. Feeding off the immense energy conjured up by the rabid fans in attendance, INGESTED‘s set went from strength-to-strength until the whole room was a wall-to-wall pit of flailing arms and spin kicks.

Ending their set in style with material from their first album, which turns 10 this year, the atmosphere in the room was palpably electric and anticipation for the next acts was at boiling point. No matter who you are, there is no denying that INGESTED played an incredible show that made the hometown fans buzz with pride – a pride which further cemented the fact that death metal is alive and well in Manchester.

Rating: 8/10

The direct support slot for this tour was occupied by Québécois technical death metal outfit CRYPTOPSY. Seeking to expand on the frenzy whipped up by the preceding band, the Montrealers pulled out all the stops and played an eclectic mix of their expertly-crafted tracks, bursting with technicality, and plucked from their long and storied history as a band. No sooner than the band took to the stage, a brutal wall-of-death opened up, stretching from one side of the room to the other, with the wall savagely coming together upon the first blast beat. The energy in the room seemed to have started firmly at a ten, but despite all initial observations, the energy was rapidly growing with each passing song.

By the time the band launched into Cold Hate, Warm Blood, the bowls of the venue were busted wide open with a ferocious pit and a myriad of crowd-surfers trying to navigate over the violent battlefield and over to the stage. When the incredibly intricate, and ruthlessly technical guitar solo rolled around, guitarist Christian Donaldson played it flawlessly, even more astounding when considering the stage had become a revolving door of crowd-surfers and other distractions. Ending their set with their twenty-year-old classic Orgiastic Disembowelment, the room once again erupted and giving the band everything they had. Packed with mesmerisingly intricate guitar work and backed by brutal blast beats, the guttural screams of the opening line “You have sinned. You will die. You will be absorbed” acted like a call-to-arms and caused an utter free-for-all to break out. When the set came to its end, CRYPTOPSY had done a masterful job in getting the crowd primed and ready for the headliners: and now it was time for the main act.

Rating: 8/10

With the stage bathed in blood-red light, ABORTED crept onto the stage in what proved to be the calm before the merciless storm. From the first until the very last, ABORTED far exceeded the lofty bar set by the previous acts. In a truly unrelenting set, they powered through their vast discography and left nothing in reserve.

Before a quick speech from frontman Sven de Caluwe dedicating the track to Jesus Christ, before following up with “he can go fuck himself”, the band launched into Divine Impediment. The intensity of the verses perfectly offset the driving half-time sections, and the room responded with their own display of brutal energy. The immense technicality of the guitar solo forced many people to stop participating in the pit for a short interlude while they made an attempt to keep up with the riff on their air guitars. Despite their rapidly depleting energy, the crowd had no respite as immediately following this came Termination Redux from their 2016 EP of the same name. With the packed venue already bursting at the seams, everyone in the room seemed completely focussed on matching the band’s infectious energy and giving their all to top the chaos caused on each preceding track.

Amazingly, the band showed no noticeable fatigue despite this being the penultimate show on this leg of the tour. With the set nearing its inevitable conclusion, they blasted into another track from their latest album TerrorVision, Visceral Despondency – to the noticeable delight of the rapidly exhausting fans. At the arrival of the penultimate track in the set, ABORTED threw it all the way back to their album Goremageddon: The Saw and the Carnage Done with the enduring Sanguine Verses; which ushered in the last phase of the set with nothing short of a nuclear explosion.

On this tour, ABORTED proved that they are as dominant and compelling as ever. Still creating music that stands on the shoulders of the preceding release and smashing all expectations placed on them: all while backing this up in one of the most brutal and darkly-beautiful live performances that could grace your city. They are still at the very pinnacle of the death metal mountain, and with the majority of acts falling short of the standards set by the band, it looks like ABORTED are going to remain one of the very best for years to come.

Rating: 9/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Manchester from Jacob Kazara here: