Originally written by Erik Thomas
Do we really need this? Blackened/Death Metal (which Osmose seem to have a strangle hold on) from down under. This is by no means as bad as Bestial Mockery, cos these guys shred pretty hard and can handle their instruments, but it’s just so….redundant. I mean if you own anything by label mates Exmortem, Horned God, or Antaeus then you have this style, just done a bit better. What this essentially is one almost continual blast beat, higher resister screams layered with lower death growls-it’s so paint by numbers its downright insulting.
Granted, Aussie vets of the scene since ‘94, Chris Volcano, Andrew Undertaker along with newer members Max Krieg and Valak Exumer are energetic and talented, but deft songwriters they are not. With a slight nod to Sodom, Kreator et al, their hypersonic compositions are simply mind numbingly boring, and no amount of skill can cover that up. To add to the sheer predictability of the music, Abominator felt the need to drag out most of their songs to well over 5 minutes, so the difference between songs is that much less noticeable. I defy you to tell the difference between “Necrosexual Thrust”, “Intoxicated With Satanic Hate”, and the nearly seven minute (ugh) “The Ultimate Ordinance of Obliteration”. Occasionally beginning with some kind of filler intro of a few seconds of promising lurch, each song soon cascades into sonic oblivion with total disregard for any kind of memorable structures or moments that require any rewinding.
To be completely honest with you, I had a hard time listening to this after the third or fourth time, and around listens seven and eight the sheer blandness and mediocrity is severely testing my will. It’s a crying shame too, as it appears the members of Abominator have dedication, skill and energy, but for crying out load they can only write one or two riffs and a huge number of variations of it to fill out a tiring 45 minute album. This is normally the point in my review where I like to highlight certain songs, moments or riffs that struck me as particularly entertaining. Kids, I got nothing. Nada. Zip. The screeching solos are forgetful, the blast beats are well, blast beat- ish (although it sounds like Volcano is a limited drummer), the production might be the best thing about one of the most forgetful albums I have ever heard. The real shame is that for albums like Bestial Mockery or KLoak, I hated those albums for any number of reasons, but on Nuctemeron Descent, it’s purely the faceless and characterless songwriting; everything else is OK, but ‘cos of the songs the entire album is besmeared by mediocrity and out shines the competent playing and spike laden retro atmosphere.
This is a severe case of the musical Blahs.
