Originally written by Jeremy Garner
Aborym are back with a new album and I dare even say I haven’t run across a fan of modern black metal who doesn’t hold a strong reverence for Fire Walk With Us and the equally great With No Human Intervention. Even in the early formulaic stage this band created its own separate niche within the traditional black metal spectrum, refusing to become just another sheep in the herd. At this level of success for industrial black metal aficionados Aborym, comparisons to any other bands are odious.
Lot of changes have occurred in the Aborym camp as of late. First off they’ve moved from Code666 to one of my favorite labels, Seasons of Mist. What does it mean for the music? Absolutely nothing really, just all the perks of a bigger, better label for the band. Long time member and guitarist Seth Teitan has left the band to pursue membership with Swedish legends Dissection. Likewise Attila Csihar has left Aborym after contributing his infamous personality on “Man Bites God” for one last go before returning fulltime to Mayhem. Though they’ve gone through a large-scale lineup shift, losing a good half of the band, the inclusion of new blood has brought a fresh an excitingly fresh atmosphere to Generator. New vocalist Prime Evil (Mysticum) lays down a vocal performance as good if not better than his predecessor. The final change to the line up is the addition of ex-Emperor and Scum drummer Bard “Faust” Eithun who lends his excellent skill to the album kindly needs no introduction at this point. Albeit losing the drum machine undoubtedly changes Aborym’s sound, I believe the flesh and blood drummer always brings more life and integrity to the compositions than the soulless sound of fake drums.
By now, Aborym have comfortably conquered their previous sound, now pushing to venture into slightly different areas and much to my joy, easing up greatly on some of the cyber black metal aspects like their odd techno gait often found in much of their material. Not to say they’ve turned their backs on the industrial black metal sound they had conquered on previous releases, they are just pushing towards a different end and growing vastly more mature with the opportunity. The production is strong and clear, but is equally dark and cold to enhance the bitter atmosphere of the music. The keyboards and choirs done by Malfeitor Fabban and Nysrok serve as a foundational backdrop as they swell and churn around the music, creating a virtual soundscape of contrasting tonality and emotion within the music. I know it’s a cliché by now, but Nysrok’s razor sharp riffs create an undaunted pernicious malevolence with such depth and duality of haunting melody and vitriolic rancor. Prime Evil’s direct, sardonic snarl and caustic howl winds its way to the very core of your being pushing the music to a whole other level. As I’ve already mentioned, Faust brings a new dimension with his distinctive style and technical prowess has the uncanny knack to know the perfect pattern for each riff. It’s good to have Faust performing in a project of this caliber again.
“Armageddon (Intro)” passes quickly enough without getting tiresome, existing mainly only to create a sense of tension and to herald the coming mayhem. “Disgust Rage (Sic Transit Gloria Mundi)” with its majestic use of synthesizers and atmospheric riffing opens the substance of the album with carefully placed and intelligent use of variety and dynamic contrast to create a focused sound slowly bringing the music to a crescendo. “A Dog-Eat-Dog World” is both regal and foreboding while slowly working its way through its sinister darkness. The melancholic “Ruiurama Kolossal S. P. Q. R. (Satanic Pollution – Aliphotic Rage)” continues the same ethereal tradition of earlier material but also hints at some of the more death metal oriented riffs to come later through its wickedly quick solo. The crescendo of tension is brought to sudden fruition with the black metal holocaust of “Generator” which parallels the album in itself by making use of constant rise and fall patterns; the song has all the feel of a glorious general surveying the destruction of some mystical bloody battlefield. The occasional hint of death metal surfaces throughout the pensive “Suffer Catatlyst” which also contains the most tastefully done juxtaposition of an audio clip with the music I’ve ever heard done in metal. “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” features some powerful low vocals and expands greatly upon the death metal touches of the previous song coalescing both influences into an almost indiscernible difference of style. “Man Bites God” opens gracefully with the heaviest use of synths before erupting into the more disdainfully regal passages which help define its sound. The morosely post-apocalyptic finale “Humechanics-Virus” brings a short close to the epic songs on Generator, wrapping things up nicely by contrasting previous material with its direct melodic simplicity instead of the previous focus on sublime subtlety.
The solemn opus Generator is riddled with intense nihilistic black metal that commands attention. Aborym have put out a record that encompasses everything I’ve loved about black metal since I first heard Emperor and subsequently had my ass blown away way back when. Though the quality of compositions is nearly flawless (as each track can stand in its individual right) the album impressively brings the songs together as something greater than the sum of its parts. Generator eclipses the recent Anaal Nathrakh and Deathspell Omega as one of the most brilliant contemporary tour de force black metal records in years. I’ll be fucked if any black metal band tops this effort for a while. Any fan of black metal regardless of sub genre preferences should take the opportunity to delve into this. Pure excellence.
