ABORTED Maniacult | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Century Media Records on September 10th, 2021

Quick Background

Aborted is a Belgian death metal band formed in 1995 with their debut album released in 1999. The founder and only constant member is Sven de Caluwé (vocals). Aborted's current lineup now features members from Belgium, The Netherlands and the US. The band has released ten studio albums before Maniacult. 

Maniacult

This is therefore their 11th studio album following 2018's TerrorVision. Maniacult features 11 tracks and clocks in at 41 minutes. Track number one functions as a long intro and track 7 is a short and dark piano instrumental. This song is actually the only moment of easy in an album that is bone-crushing for the other 37 minutes and 9 proper tracks. While being a death metal band, Aborted uses elements of grind and black metal. Specially due to the versatility of frontman Sven. 

My favorite songs on the album were released as video singles. Following the intro, the title track is an instant punch in the face. Double bass drums at full speed and aggressiveness throughout the 3.5 minutes including a breakdown and a melodic guitar solo. Actually the guitar solos are very interesting on this album. Never overdone but very tasteful and technical with melody. "Impetus Odi" has a well produced video which shows gory images that include skulls, brains and human sacrifice. Musically, same aggression but this is a groovier track. It reminds me of the latest albums from Cattle Decapitation, very nice track. And for the track “Dementophobia” the band has made a very special “Scooby-Doo” inspired video clip. Watch it below. It is also my favorite song of the album. It's the song the balances aggression, groove and melody the best. Track 9 "Drag Me to Hell" is one of the longest songs on the album with just above 5 minutes. It features a moody guitar intro which is a nice way to catch your breath. But the tempo increases after almost two minutes to the same aggression we have experience throughout the album. Still the song maintains some influence of a more atmospheric sound. 

Two other  highlights for me are: "Ceremonial Ineptitude" another groovy track with extreme aggression. This one makes me thing of Emperor and again features a nice guitar solo. And "Grotesque" going a bit traditional metal with those guitar riffs. Finally, also shout out to the artwork, I like it a lot.  Kind of Aliens meets the Walking Dead. 

The Picky Guy

There's one thing that bugs me, the constant use of 'ugh'. Totally unnecessary IMHO, but not a deal breaker. Other than that, not all songs capture my attention as the best ones on the album, so in that sense it is a bit inconsistent affair. 

Wrap Up Opinion 

Aborted have been making quality death metal for years and Maniacult shows no sign of slowing it down. It's nothing really new or that we haven't heard before, but it's well written and executed. A good album that should please the band fans and death metal fans in general, so give it a try if that fits you. 79/100 is what I am going for. 

SCORE: 79/100

Genre: Death Metal

Released by Century Media Records on September 10th, 2021

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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