If you ask me to compile a list containing the best Death Metal albums released in the 90's Autopsy's "Severed Survival" will definitely hold a predominant place. With that in mind, it is completely inexcusable on my part to have to wait till 2007 in order to get introduced to the music of Abscess - a band whose line up consists of Autopsy's founding members Chris Reifert (drums/vocals) and Danny Coralles (guitars).

Well, the ability to turn the time back to the year 1994 when Abscess were formed, is definitely not an option as far as I'm concerned, but listening closely to the promo of the band's upcoming release "Horrorhammer" made me realise that there would be no need to do that anyway. Why? Simply because "Horrorhammer" is an album that was created with the same mentality, sound and feel as the first two Autopsy albums. Is that enough to convince you to give it a spin? Well, if that is not the ultimate motivation, then I don't know what is.

The album kicks off with the thrash dynamite "Drink The Filth", proving that the intentions of Christ Reifert's outfit are none other than to perform unconventional straight in your face metal! The next few compositions hold some interesting surprises for the unsuspecting listener. Even though the fast-paced opening riff of "New Diseases" presents a similar musical direction with that of it's predecessor, the mid-tempo guitar theme and the unearthly vocals featured in its short and welcoming break betray Darkthrone's influence to the band. Same applies with "Poison Messiah" which contains one of the most inspirational rhythmical riffs of the album.

An interesting addition to the album's diversity comes from the more Punk-orientated compositions such as "Another Private Hell" and "Exterminate", which may be quite simple in their structure, yet operate nicely within their given environment. Listening to "Four Grey Walls" one can easily detect similarities with Darkthrone's recently released opus "Graveyard Slut", and if that type of songs do not apply to your taste, maybe you will need to invest in the Doom/Stonery melodies of "When Witches Burn" or the amazing thrashy riff of the same-titled composition.

What really excite me about "Horrorhammer" is not only its diversity, but also its contagious directness. In less that thirty five minutes, the members of Abscess will manage to take you through a very colourful musical journey, assisted by songs whose sound may be classified as primitive, in comparison to today's standards, but whose foundations were built upon the same values that elevated the status of metal music to unreachable heights. Invest without fear!

****½

Review by John Stefanis