Abhorration - Demonolatry

Abhorration is a death metal band from Norway, who formed in 2020.  Although they released a demo in 2021, “Demonolatry” is their full-length debut album.

This album is absolutely bat shit insane.  Seriously, “Demonolatry” is raw and goes for the kill 10% of the time.  After jamming the hell out of this album, I felt physically exhausted and a little beaten down.  That’s a compliment and it’s also something I feel a lot of modern death metal is lacking, even the best of it.  

Death metal was originally a genre that actually frightened people and went against everything with good taste and mainstream leanings. “Demonolatry” captures that feeling, the aura of disgusting,  uncompromising violence.  The production and mix is fantastic.  The press release mentioned it was analog and every beat, every note could be heard and felt.  That pretty much nails exactly what I’m hearing–it’s raw, powerful, and boosts the already visceral nature of the band. It definitely has a “live” feel to the way it sounds and, with a decent pair of headphones on, it is very intimidating.  

The influences are obvious so I won’t waste time speaking of them but that’s fine because the band has their own sound.  Of course, it does have its old-school leanings, but that’s more in the feel and atmosphere not necessarily the music itself. 

The album opens with “Chamber of Agilarept” which is so goddamn hectic that I felt like it was going to somehow beat itself with its speed and burst out of my headphones, into my ears, and explode my brain.  Despite the carnage, the song isn’t messy—this song captures chaos, beats it and starves it, then lets it loose.  

As the song proves around the halfway mark, the band is more than just nonstop speed.  When the tempo drops and the songs breathe, the band offers riffs and pummeling moments that are far more catchy than they have any right to be. 

“Spawn of an Abhorrent Entity,” begins mid paced and it is here where the band lets their blood-drenched guitar/bass tones truly shine.  This sounds pure evil and I’m all aboard on this hell train.  The drums are perfect, complimenting the extremity in the most profane ways but while making sense in context of the song’s structure.   The bass casts a dense, brutal dim light on the atmosphere, particularly well during the guitar solos.  The leads themselves are crazy but there is a loose structure that keeps them grounded just enough where they don’t take away from the other parts of the song.  

Around the 2:15 mark, the band goes rabid and hammers through a blistering section that almost turned my head all the way around on my body.  If you’re crazy all the time then you’re not crazy–but if you have these moments that remain unseen until the last second, if you keep people guessing on what is about to happen, then you are crazy.  That’s Abhorrent in a nutshell.

The title track ends the song as a total banger.  I love the rumbling drums in the beginning—they build intensity quickly and it seems as if the song is some kind of physical structure that is about to topple over.  

Around the 1:45 mark, the song slows down and it’s one of those moments where everything comes together.  It’s hypnotic but claustrophobic…like being caught in a spider’s web with the only certainly being your failing will eventually call death down to devour.  My favorite part of the song, and maybe even the album itself, is the final half where it hits a stride throwing out a devastating groove just before turning into a battering ram with a soul-melting solo.

Abhorration’s “Demonolatry,” is a very extreme but also very exciting death metal album.  For those fans who feel the genre has maybe grown to be too diluted or sometimes offers too much while ignoring the essence of its foundations, this album will bring you back to the good ol days of hell.  Highly recommended.