Review: Static Abyss ‘Aborted From Reality’
When you get two members of one of death metal’s most iconic bands taking on a new venture, you’re going to get something immediately worth seeking out. Static Abyss is exactly that, emerging from the very much living Autopsy into life in 2021. The duo are following their excellent debut Labyrinth Of Veins from last year with a new record already, and Aborted From Reality is out now through Peaceville Records.
It must be said, Chris Reifert has got to be one of death metal’s hardest working dudes. His vocal skills have never faltered even after years of abuse, and they are at new levels of depravity here. The opening title track is just a pummelling, gurgling rampage of pure Autopsy shit mixed with the otherworldly, howling guitar leads of Greg Wilkinson‘s tortured guitar. It follows the expected route of being both an imperious wall of gore and a rabid, snarling vampiric assault, balancing on a knife edge between insanity and clarity.
Wormskinned has a more straightforward chug about it but the uneasy, slithering melodies that coat everything are a little unsettling. There’s something quite Morbid Angel about the guitar lines, reaching in and out of reality to pluck the strings of other dimensions. The dirging dissonance of Cathedral Of Vomit is superlative, while the manic Cerebral Ghost is perfect to keep you guessing where this is going.
Aborted From Reality is a record that takes everything you love about this duo’s day job then twists it into new and unsettling forms…
On the surface, this record should be fairly straightforward to pigeonhole; two members of Autopsy do Autopsy shit for forty minutes, it’ll be great! But this is why Static Abyss need to exist because clearly these two have plenty of musical ideas that don’t fit the mould of their day job. The gloomy, howling morbidity of The Static Abyss, the sanguinary snarls of Unrepentant Mutant Serpent, the savage Mind Tentacles; all are full of moments that keep the record interesting. Frequently you think to yourself, ‘oh THAT was an interesting touch’ or ‘man, that melody line was weird as fuck’. I fucking love Autopsy, but that thought doesn’t appear often. Aborted From Reality is full of them, an almost sepulchral, gothic grace at times, interspersed seamlessly with the more expected bloody mouthed carnage.
It’s always hard to imagine how we can take the Autopsy template and make it interesting in 2023. Autopsy themselves are one of the few that manage it, and Static Abyss are obviously doing that too. Aborted From Reality is a record that takes everything you love about this duo’s day job then twists it into new and unsettling forms. If you’ve ever maybe wondered what Autopsy would sound like with Trey Azagthoth guesting on guitar, this might be as close as you get.
Label: Peaceville Records
Band Links: Facebook | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Sandy Williamson
