Sunday, February 19, 2012

Abominable Putridity - The Anomalies Of Artificial Origin

Yeah I know it's not Sunday anymore but I had half of this shit written on Sunday. Passed out before I finished it, so don't take the blockers off yet!


Now onto Abominable Putridity's 2012 release, The Anomalies Of Artificial Origin. In the past five (more like four) years Abominable Putridity went through a few lineup changes, had a flirtation with Big Chocolate, and decided to amp up the technicality, amounting in this new release being a little different than its oft-hated predecessor.

The technicality on The Anomalies is more in the vein of master noodlers Brain Drill and Necrophagist as opposed to the more atmospherically-oriented tech out there. It's fast, arpeggio-based, and very, very annoying. I can't seem to come to terms with it. Opener "A Burial For The Abandoned" is ruined by this senseless wankery. Luckily it's the most flamboyant and obvious of the new-style tracks on the entirety of The Anomalies. The slams were left intact and are as skull-bludgeoning as ever. "Lack Of Oxygen" quickly devolves into a brutal slam rut and "Wormhole Inversion" has one of the better rhythm-bending slams present on the album. "The Last Communion" features a pit-monster of a slam in the first minute which proceeds to give way to groovy technicality without the wank, making it my favorite track on The Anomalies. This track is how I wish the rest of the album was.

I guess one of the benefits of having improved instrumentally is that the riffing between slams has grown to be somewhat interesting as opposed to filler. However for the most part Abominable Putridity will ruin these sections with a seemingly random arpeggiation. The worst is on "Remnants Of The Tortured," which has a cool mosh riff that could be easily tweaked as it breaks into the main slam, but instead is littered with noodling.

The production is significantly cleaner and more mechanical sounding on The Anomalies Of Artificial Origin. It brings out the more precise instrumentation, but really drops the brutality of the slams by a notch. If the idea of semi-techwank slam death is appealing to you then you should take The Anomalies over In The End Of Human Existence, but I definitely wouldn't.

6.0 out of 10


Tracklisting:

1. Remnants of the Tortured

2. A Massacre in the North

3. Letting Them Fall...

4. A Burial for the Abandoned

5. Lack of Oxygen
 
6. Wormhole Inversion
 
7. The Anomalies of Artificial Origin
 
8. The Last Communion

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