Abraded - Self-Titled

Korgoth would approve. 

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on March 1st 2022)  

One thing I’ve always found quite amusing is how interconnected underground metal bands tend to be. Seeing a single member being in 3 or more bands at a time is a great way to find new stuff to listen to. And that’s exactly how I stumbled upon Abraded. Patric Pariano is the band’s drummer, and it’s through his other band, Abreaction, that I ended up stumbling upon the Descendants of the Swamp EP last year. As chance would have it, I was looking through the guy’s page on the Archives and ended up finding that Abraded had released their self-titled debut, which turned out to be quite the nasty slab of deathgrind.

Looking at the tracklist, and the album’s 19 minute runtime can give you a very good idea of what you’ll be experiencing: short, energetic bursts of speed with the occasional mid-tempo slugger that’s guaranteed to knock you on your ass, and as is tradition with grind adjacent music, a strong punk influence. While this release isn’t particularly groundbreaking, it does have quite a few standout moments spread throughout its duration. The leadwork in particular is something I didn’t expect upon first listen, and it ended up being one of my favourite things about this release. The solos presented on “Unsavory Appetite” and “Tecpatl” are quite aggressive and memorable, injecting a good dose of variety to the tracklist, aided further by the tempo shifts underneath.

As for the riffing, the Abraded is no slouch in that department either. The band mixes traditional death metal riffing with ferocious breakdowns to great effect, and makes for a positively riveting experience. Whether it’s the intense opener “Corpse Acquisition”, or the constant barrage of breakdowns and tremolo riffs in “Poison of the Steel”, things remain positively crushing throughout. The guitars are also propped up by an animated drum performance, one that draws a lot from punk, with loads of d-beats and blasts being scattered throughout the tracks, resulting in a strong rhythmic base for the rest of the band to build upon.

These compositions are further aided by an absolutely disgusting production job, handled by Pariano himself. The fleshy, murky guitars are supplemented by the most distorted and decrepit sounding bass I’ve heard in recent memory, all while being supported by a robust drumkit that features an appropriately pingy snare. While on a surface level this sounds like a recipe for pure noise, it turns out to be quite potent thanks to a good mixing job, one that permits every instrument to shine whenever necessary (see the intro to “False Valor”).

While this is a very fun release, I can’t say it didn’t disappoint me in some aspects. For one, some tracks just don’t stick as much and end up feeling unnecessary in an already brief album. “Ineffable Suffering” is the longest track presented here, and it lacks the energy and drive that characterises the other songs, while the title track has the exact opposite problem, clocking in at 40 seconds and passing by without leaving much of an impression. Had the former been shortened a little and the latter outright cut out, the album would’ve been better off, even if it would be even shorter than what it currently is. Outside of that, there’s also the fact that it’s not particularly innovative, though that is made up for to a great extent by the songwriting presented here.

On the whole, Abraded’s debut turns out to be an intense, if slightly unremarkable deathgrind album. It’s sure to make an impression while it’s on, and you’ll probably remember a good handful of moments from it, but it’s easy for it to get lost in a sea of similar releases, especially if you’re a connoisseur of the style. That being said, it’s a good 19 minutes, and I’d be lying if I said I regret listening to it multiple times in preparation for this review.

Highlights: Unsavory Appetite, Tecpatl, Poison of the Steel

Rating: 78%