A Hated One Interview with Aborted

Like the fictionally reanimated corpse that was comprised of many varied parts from many varied people, Aborted are the Frankenstein’s Monster of modern heavy metal. Founded prior to the turn of the century in Waregem, Belgium, this extreme goregrind n’ death lusus naturae has been fascinating the metal world with its heterogeneous amalgam of both imagined and true-life horror stories, grindcore, obscure vocabulary, extreme death metal, and grisly, blood-soaked gore since 1995.

Superficially akin to the legendary monster, Aborted have been infusing classic horror cinema samples and themes into their music and art since the very beginning. “[We are definitely] the musical equivalent of a horror movie,” agrees Sven de Caluwé, vocalist and only remaining original member of the now world-renowned international conglomerate; but if you dig a little deeper, Aborted begins to mirror the beast of Mary Shelley’s nightmares in even more ways than just the obvious. For example, although the recent history of the band suggests that this aspect may finally be lessening, were you aware that over twenty-five different men have called themselves members of Aborted?

That’s right, like some stitched-and-stapled together composite that is continuously cheating death, Aborted have defied the odds and have stayed (mostly) true to their sick, sick sound for well over two decades not because two or three of the same members have willed it so, but because a never-ending cavalcade of musicians has been sewn together and reanimated by Sven, not unlike the maniacally passionate work of Victor Frankenstein himself... and, most importantly, the musicians have (on the majority) danced to the Aborted tune.

“Mostly, I think that everyone who’s joined up over the years were fans of Aborted first, knew what the band was about, and felt no need to change things too much,” observed Sven in our recent chat via Zoom. “[Even through my not-so-favorite days of Slaughter & Appartus and Strychnine.213] (where the band took a brief-but-noticeably-daft turn toward melo-death for a couple albums in the late 2000’s), Aborted has still stuck to its sound since the early days and has done pretty well overall, so when it comes to Slaughter and Strychnine, no harm, no foul, right? Haha.”

Sven de Caluwé laying down vocals earlier this year

Thankfully indeed, the days of being chased back to the castle with pitchforks and torches due to the missteps that were Slaughter and Strychnine are well behind Sven and Aborted now, mostly due to a string of phenomenally produced albums dating back to 2012’s Global Flatline and ranging all the way through to the present with the impending release of ManiaCult on September 10th; and much like how the once-maligned beast of yore has now been embraced by the masses, Global Flatline put Aborted onto the golden path of universal recognition.

“I definitely agree,” concurs Sven, “especially since Retrogore, stylistically and artistically speaking. If you listen to ‘Dementophobia’ on ManiaCult, it sounds very similar to a lot of the stuff on Global Flatline, which in turn sounded a lot like the [music] on Goremageddon or even Engineering the Dead. I feel all of that ties together nicely with this [new] album.”

And speaking of the new album ManiaCult, much like the confusion caused between the lack of a name of the actual monster and the name of its creator (and the name of the book), Frankenstein, there is certainly a little purposefully manufactured confusion concerning the pronunciation of Aborted’s latest work, too. “It is pronounced like ‘manical’, but it can be said as ‘mania cult’, too…consider it a little play on English from the European,” chuckles Sven as he explains.

The insane cover art for ManiaCult, due out 9/10/21 from Century Media

But all kidding aside, Sven also agrees with Hated One that ManiaCult is not only Aborted’s best work yet, but that it is has also been following the upward trend set by Global Flatline ever since 2012. “It is definitely our most well-rounded album to date, because otherwise, what’s the point of putting out new albums, right? The point is to get better with every release, and to hopefully top what we did with the last one. I think we’ve done that with ManiaCult, for sure.”

Peppered with highlighted tunes such as the title track “ManiaCult”, the first single “Impetus Odi”, the aforementioned “Dementophobia”, and the perfectly horror-themed trio of “Verbolgen” into “Cermemonial Ineptitude” into “Drag Me to Hell”, ManiaCult delivers chills, (blood)spills, and thrill after thrill after thrill, all wrapped up into a beautifully packaged forty-minutes of extreme deathgrind deliciousness.

So, to get a hilarious taste of the gory feast soon to come from Aborted’s ManiaCult, simply press play below to check out the official video for the title track, have a chuckle at all of the fake news, and if you’re digging the track, be sure to support the band further by following the links provided at the bottom of the article. Enjoy, and stay metal! \m/

Rating: 97 / 100 (A+)

Release Date: September 10th, 2021 (Century Media Records)

Genre: Extreme Deathgrind

FFO: (early) Carcass, Exhumed, Dying Fetus, (early) Cattle Decapitation, Misery Index, Benighted, Haemorrhage, Skinless, Limbsplitter, Hideous Divinity

Suggested Listening from Aborted: Carcass (massive influence on sound and lyrics), Suffocation, Entombed, Dismember, Dying Fetus (“Our first show ever was opening for them,” reminisces Sven), Bloodbath, Hideous Divinity (bassist Stefano Franceschini has also been laying the low end for Aborted since 2016), Humanity’s Last Breath (vocalist Filip Danielsson makes a guest appearance on ManiaCult), Employed to Serve, Infant Annihilator, and “of course, our good buddies in Benighted.”

Sven’s All-Time Top 5 Horror Movies/Franchises: 1. “Nightmare on Elm Street”, 2. “Evil Dead”, 3. “The Thing”, 4. “Reanimator”, 5. “Hellraiser” (about which Sven says, “I think we’ve quoted every line from every movie over the albums through samples and lyrics, hahaha.”)

Aborted Links: Homepage, Facebook, Instagram, Century Media Records Webstore

A Hated One Interview with Burial in the Sky

With as much buzz that has built up around the forthcoming Between the Buried and Me and Rivers of Nihil albums – and deservedly so in both cases – Hated One Metal Reviews felt it necessary to highlight a new, fast-ascending quintet out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania whose debut LP on Rising Nemesis Records not only sounds like an uncanny amalgamation of the aforementioned superstars, but also whose August 13th release date seems to be the perfect primer for the August 20th release of Colors II and the September 24th release of The Work...

Ladies and germs, boys and ghouls, Hated One Metal Reviews is proud to present this feature interview with Jorel Hart, vocalist of Philly’s own Burial in the Sky!

Originally formed in 2013 as a two-piece between guitarist/multi-instrumentalist James Tomedi and the now departed multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Will Okronglis, Burial in the Sky has been consistently issuing EP’s and LP’s full of promising progressive death metal since their inception, but it was 2018’s guest appearance upon the band’s independently issued sophomore LP Creatio et Hominus that started the former Cognitive vocalist Hart on the path to becoming a permanent member of the expanding act.

“Joining the band actually occurred over a span of time,” recalls Hart. “I was attempting to turn myself into a studio vocalist when [Burial in the Sky] contacted me to record on Creatio et Hominus.” Stemming from more of an East Coast death and slam background, Hart was immediately blown away by the musicianship of the bandmates in his new guest project. “The music itself was something completely out of my [wheelhouse, and it was] an immediate attraction for me. After the album was finished, the guys asked me to play a handful of shows with them as a live fill-in [and it was] during this time that they invited me to join full-time, but I wasn’t [quite] ready for another band yet.”

However it didn’t take long for Hart to realize that he had an amazing opportunity laid out before him. “I [quickly] realized how much I loved being around these dudes and how insanely talented they are, so after a fantastic sit-down alone with James, I finally joined [officially]. In all honesty, I feel like a [novice around] these guys sometimes. They all switch off instruments and have all had a hand in writing the songs, whereas I just write words to yell. They are teachers and masterclass musicians, and I’m very fortunate that they want me around. I’ve never been in a band where I can stop at any point and just watch in awe. These guys are the real deal and continually blow me away.”

Rounded out magnificently by drummer/pianist Sam Stewart, bassist/saxophonist Zach Strouse (also known for his sax work with fellow Pennsylvanians Rivers of Nihil), and rhythm guitarist Brad Hettinger, what once began as a small, two-man side project has now evolved into a full-fledged quintet that will soon outdo itself with the August 13th release of The Consumed Self.

On paper, The Consumed Self is Burial in the Sky’s third LP, however, seeing as it is their first to be laid down as a five-piece unit and it is their first to receive label backing (from Germany’s mid-level Rising Nemesis Records), The Consumed Self represents far more than “just another release” to the band; it is a whole new era for the act itself.

The phenomenal cover art for The Consumed Self as imagined and executed by Justin Abraham (Equipoise, Inanimate Existence, etc.)

Recorded at AJ Viana Production, Hart and company gave their all to lay down this progressive death monster. “To be honest, it was brutal at times, but [it was also] the best recording experience I’ve had. We took our time, did things right, and nothing ever got passed as an ‘ok take’. [We all made sure we] put the work in.” And put the work in, they did! All told, by Hart’s recollection, over forty instruments were employed in the recording of The Consumed Self, and the sheer vastness of production shines through the entire fifty-six-minutes’ worth of ten mind-blowing tracks.

Not only is the effort Burial in the Sky’s most ambitious and lengthiest to date, Hart and his bandmates also believe it is their finest. “Everyone in the band unanimously agrees that The Consumed Self is our best work [yet], both [individually and collectively]. If there is a genre of music within the world of metal that you enjoy, this record has it.”

Brilliantly and succinctly described in sound by Hart as “Between the Floyd and Me”, Burial in the Sky’s incredible range of talent, influence, and sound is on full display upon The Consumed Self, and Hart and company are already virtually foaming at the mouth to get out on the road and play the tunes live. “We haven’t played any of these new songs out yet and I cannot wait! I can’t tell you how much I miss being on stage and on the road. There is a piece of me that remains there and is not found until returning to it. With that being said, we have a handful of shows already planned with more in the works, and we are looking to get on the right tour, too.” (A firm nudge nudge and wink wink from Hated One to all you promoters out there who are reading this, by the way!)

So again, just to remind all of you fellow BTBAM and Rivers of Nihil nuts out there that while now is indeed an incredibly exciting time as we wait for the impending new albums to drop from a couple of these favorite established acts of ours, don’t forget that the cycle always carries on and that exciting new acts such as Burial in the Sky will always continue to emerge to become your new favorite established acts... so don’t you dare sleep on The Consumed Self, for this is the next and the new and it is right here and right now!

To dig on the official video for "An Orphaned City" from The Consumed Self, just press play below and make sure to follow the links at the bottom of the page to further support Burial in the Sky if you're liking what you're hearing! \m/

Rating: 99 / 100 (A++)

Genre: Progressive/Technical Death

Don’t Skip: “On Wings of Providence” (3), “Amarousis Shroud” (4), “Mechanisms of Loneliness” (6), “Caught in the Azure Cradle” (9), “Anatomy of Us” (10)

FFO: Yakuza, Between the Buried and Me, Rivers of Nihil, Beyond Creation, Obscura, Fractal Universe, Artificial Brain, The Lylat Continuum

Burial in the Sky Recommends: Pink Floyd, Between the Buried and Me, Alustrium, Intervals, Aborted, Ahtme, Ophidian I, Gojira, Noctambulist, Artificial Brain

Band Links: Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, Rising Nemesis Records Webstore

An Interview With Horndal

In the southeast corner of Dalarna County, Sweden, a couple hours north of one of metal’s capital cities, Stockholm, lies the miniscule mill town of Horndal. This unremarkable little dot on the map off the southern shore of Lake Rossen and its thousand or so inhabitants have experienced the boom-to-bust, rags-to-riches-back-to-rags-again tragedy that so many towns and hamlets around the world have endured throughout humanity’s reign.

It is a story as old as civilization itself: Powerful, influential men with money sweep in, drain the natural resources, devastate the area, and once all the profits have been sucked dry, they leave only an empty husk behind, caring nothing for the plight of the land or the people and families who’ve lived there for generations.

Ravaged, raped, and finally forsaken to rust in the late 1970’s by international industrialists, Horndal, Sweden’s story may not be uncommon, however through incredible hardships sometime also come incredible artistic inspirations – and even more rarely, sometimes from multiple generations of the same family.

You see, in 1977, as the industrialists were pulling up stakes and slithering along to the next little town that they were no doubt planning to ransack, a local theatre ensemble in Horndal were performing nightly for the townsfolk in protest of the impending socioeconomic collapse of their beloved home.

In said performance, Satan himself (called Hin Håle in old Swedish) comes to town, enlivens the populace with shiny new mills, homes, and hope. All the while, though, what Hin Håle is truly up to is despoiling the local terra, flora, and fauna for his own gain. Once this is done, Hin Håle abandons it all to die a slow, torturous, and blatantly obvious allegorical death.

Managed and staffed by residents of Horndal itself (most of whom were about to lose their own situations with the closing of the mills), the theatre cast’s lead role of Hin Håle was performed by none other than the future father of two aspiring musicians and brothers who would one day shed further quantities of light upon the depressing story of their diminutive hometown – and then share that story with the entire world through their music, band, and brand.

Naming said band after their abused and exploited haunt, Sweden’s blackened sludge upstarts Horndal have taken their own family connection to the rebellious spirit of that small theatre ensemble from decades ago and have channeled it into an incredible, modern force of inspiration and creative expression.

“We had no choice but to start this band,” explains drummer Pontus Levahn, who along with his older brother and guitarist/vocalist Henrik make up the pair of sons of Hin Håle himself. “The story of our hometown, the shutdown of the steel mill in the late 70’s… The protests and despair following [the shutdown have] been flowing in our veins since we were kids. Add [our father’s role in the story of the town] to our love for heavy and aggressive music and you have the perfect template for a metal band.”

The perfect template, indeed, but without the rest of the players, a perfect template it would’ve remained in name only. Also joining the Levahn brothers in bringing this mesmerizing blueprint to life are bassist Erik Welén, and arguably the most experienced metal musician of the bunch, lead guitarist Fredrik Boëthius Fjärem (also of Stockholm’s veteran act C.B. Murdoc and former member of the recently rejuvenated Mörk Gryning).

With this talented cast in tow, Pontus admits that the chemistry was palpable right from the get-go. “We all come from different musical backgrounds, [and] we are not that kind of band that grew up together sitting around a boombox worshipping one specific subgenre. We’ve all been playing music, touring, and realizing albums in jazz trios, black metal, energetic indie rock, techy death metal, art rock, and everything in between since we were young, so when we finally formed [Horndal], the riffs, lyrics, and ideas just appeared naturally. I know it sounds like cheesy bullshit, but it’s the honest truth. So help me, Hin Håle.”

For guitarist Fredrik Boëthius Fjärem, though, playing in a blackened sludge act isn’t just a departure, it’s also a desired destination, posits Pontus. “Fredrik is our alibi for playing metal at all. [The rest of us marvel] at the skill set he’s [attained] from playing really complicated death metal. But he was really into joining a band that’s focused more on organic energy, raw force, and songwriting compared to the more technically impressive stuff that he’s done in the past.”

Fully formed and rearing to go, Horndal immediately jumped to the task of setting the grievous tale of their hometown to a heavy metal soundtrack. After laying down an initial EP in 2017, Pontus and the gang started composing the true first chapter of this tale, their 2019 Prosthetic Records debut full-length, Remains.

Telling the historic epic of Horndal itself throughout nine tracks and thirty-four minutes, Remains kicks off Horndal’s earnest efforts to conceptualize their deep, deep connection to their home. When asked in not so many words, “Why Horndal?”, Pontus’s answer was astute and sagacious.

“[It is] the very real and very human aspect of it all. The story of Horndal, which is the exact same story [as] thousands of other small, rusty, post-industrial towns around the world, has everything you need for making bleak music. So who needs made-up stories of dragons, sword fights, or cannibals when you have really dark and very true stories to tell? It comes down to the people of Horndal, from way back then to the present. All this is an homage to them. Much love. They are the toughest people I know, and they’re really supportive of what we do, even if we’re not painting the most colorful picture of the place.”

And keeping those same ill-fated people and their 21st century descendants in mind, Horndal will bring the exemplum of their star-crossed stomping ground up to date with the April 9th, 2021 release of Lake Drinker, again brought to us all by Prosthetic Records.

Ambitious, prodigious, and immersive, Lake Drinker represents the second chapter in Horndal’s cathartic autobiography of their eponymous home, and it modernizes the tale by dragging the latest, virulent strain of bloodsucking outsiders who’ve come to exploit the region anew kicking and screaming into the light through eleven killer cuts of forty-six riveting minutes’ worth of spellbinding blackened sludge.

“It took a lot of work, both for the brain and the muscle,” admits Pontus without a hint of lament or regret, “On Lake Drinker, we gave every idea a shot [as] the plague gave us the time to do so. We dug in archives to find people that participated in the protests around the shutdown in ’77, we found local flügelhorn players, classic percussionists, and death metal legends [to guest on the album]… [all this] just to make sure we’ve done our absolute best to turn every idea into a reality. Right now, I feel creatively drained…and [it] wouldn’t feel right if I wasn’t.”

Indeed, Horndal poured their hearts, souls, blood, sweat, and the collective tears of generations of mistreated locals into Lake Drinker, almost as if they were trying to refill the emptying lake basin all by themselves. Persistently inspired by their unknown and unnoticed homestead, Horndal’s fantastic forthcoming work has the potential to not only gain this Stockholm-by-way-of-Avesta project a boatload of dedicated new fans, but also to finally share their unique perspective of the world with a wider audience in general.

“The town of Horndal is our own little microcosmos through which we look upon the world,” concludes Pontus, “With such a pair of glasses and with such a specific perspective, you can see a whole lot. Bigger historical events, zeitgeists, human tragedy, triumph, downfall again, and so on. I think we can go on forever finding new, relevant stories to tell. Horndal is the world. The world is Horndal. Sort of.”

So, on that note, here’s to all of you rusted out, used-up little homesteads out there. May you all have a Horndal spirit inside you, somewhere.

To get excited for the impending release of Lake Drinker, simply press play below to check out the official video for “Horndal’s Blodbad”, and if you’re digging the assertive riffage, monstrous melodiousness, and sheer, desperate energy as much as Hated One, then be sure to support the band further by checking the Horndal links at the bottom (and don’t forget to look for a bonus surprise beneath that, too)! Ω

Rating: 98 / 100 (A+)

Release Date: April 9th, 2021

Genre: Blackened Sludge

Don’t Skip: “Horndal’s Blodbad” (Track 2), “The Black Wheel” (Track 4), “Ruhr” (Track 6 – Hated One’s Favorite), “Town Burner” (Track 10)

FFO: Mastodon, High on Fire, Inter Arma, Lord Mantis, Immortal Bird, Lord Almighty, Plaguewielder (see below!), Yatra

Some Favorite Bands of Horndal: Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Entombed (R.I.P. LG), Neurosis, At the Gates, Elder

Horndal Links: Facebook, Instagram, Prosthetic Records Webstore

Bonus Mini-Review of Plaguewielder – Covenant Death

Releasing tomorrow, April 2nd, on Disorder Recordings is another solid LP from another blackened sludge act – this time hailing from right here in the States – Plaguewielder. Containing eight cuts and spanning thirty-five minutes, Covenant Death is the third full-length to drop from this southeastern Ohio quartet.

Focusing audibly more heavily on the blackened aspects of blackened sludge, Plaguewielder’s latest effort is one of those sneaky good albums that while possibly flying under your radar is also one that you should not miss at all, especially if you’re at all interested in acts such as Horndal and the like!

So, don’t sleep on it, people: Covenant Death, Plaguewielder, due out tomorrow!

To get a taste, press play below, and support the band if you’re enjoying what you’re hearing! Ω

Rating: 95 / 100 (A)

Release Date: April 2nd, 2021

Genre: Blackened Sludge

Plaguewielder Links: Facebook, Instagram, Disorder Recordings