REVIEWS - Abysmal Torment "Epoch Of Methodic Carnage" CD

[Brutal Bands]

Post your reviews of "Epoch Of Methodic Carnage" here...

[Brutal Bands]

MASTERFUL MAGAZINE - www.masterful-magazine.com (http://www.masterful-magazine.com)

While originality isn't their forte, Malta's Abysmal Torment do an admirable take on the technical brutal US death metal genre. Working with the same producer and studio as their more popular peers Beheaded this band does show some notable differences. The riffing tends to varied: either simple heavy-brutal in Devourment style or more complex leaning somewhat towards California's Disgorge or mid-nineties Cannibal Corpse. Drumming is pretty high speed, whilst not relying on constant blasting, it reminds somewhat of Chad Walls-era Brodequin. Overlaying this unrelenting barrage with a dual vocal assault and stomping breakdowns (Vomit Remnants is a definite influence here) Abysmal Torment take everything you heard done before, but still manage to make it sound reasonably fresh and exciting. Production courtesy of David Vella and Temple Studios sounds akin to the last Beheaded record, while the drum sound here is far better. The artwork by acclaimed artist Tony Koehl is rich in detail and brings back the spirit of many classic death metal covers. Abysmal Torment isn't the most groundbreaking stomping death metal act to date, but what they do sounds convincing enough to these jaded ears. "Epoch Of Methodic Carnage" won't probably go down in history as a brutal death metal classic, but it's an incredibly consistent record. This is another strong addition to Brutal Bands' limited but impressive roster. Fans of brutal US death metal can't go wrong with this.

address: http://www.abysmaltorment.net
Wouter - 7

[Brutal Bands]

CARBON AND BLOOD - www.carbonandblood.blogspot.com (http://www.carbonandblood.blogspot.com)

I guess that all of you who heard Abysmal Torments stunning debut "Incised wound suicide" knew just as well as me that these 5 young guys coming out of Malta would be the next big thing when it comes to European death/grind. I had the pleasure of reviewing their self-released mcd when I had Grindead Webzine and I remember how I much I really liked it. A while ago A.T. was signed to Brutal Bands that shortly after signing them, re-released their mcd, a good move since it was pretty damn hard to get a hold of the first patch of the mcd when it was released by the band themselves.

This is A.T.'s debut fullength entitled "Epoch of methodic carnage" and it looks very professional, good artwork done by Tony Koehl and it has a"Studio Sho"-feel to it, that is, it has alot of random and dead bodies hehe. So on the exterior it looks promising, but what about the interior? Well, to be honest when I listened to the mcd before I heard the fullength I was suprised on how it bored me after a few listenings, there was no real "feel" in the music, just a mishmash of grooves, slams and really fast grind with dual vocals, both really guttural, but not that much different from each other. I get the same feeling after listening to this fullength, sure, they have evolved and become better musicians, but they havent really evolved as songwriters since it sounds pretty much the same like the tracks from the mcd.

The biggest flaw would be the guitarsound. I dont really know what it is, but it feels really messy and most of the riffs sounds so repetitive, especially the faster riffs while the slower riffs sound more "individual" and it was actually the slower and groovier riffs that really caught my attention when it comes to A.T. The drumming is a bit better now,but you can still hear how the drummer gets lost during the really fast parts sometimes (not as often as on the mcd though) and you can really hear how the pace is slowed down gradually, he has better control on his feet than before though.

I know that many will disagree and call me stuff, but I dont really care, it's just a review and it's my own personal oppinion, plus.. I'm trying to give some constructive criticism here without bashing the band. Personally, I need more than just brutality, I need more memorable structures and yes, you can actually write catchy stuff without sounding less brutal, belive it or not. What I do like about A.T. though is, as I mentioned before, their slower parts that are excellent for any moshpit out there, the build-up's are really good and I can only imagine how it would be to see them live, probably alot better since most music should be experienced live.

If you liked the mcd then you will probably enjoy this fullength as well. As for me, I've grown pretty tired of this band, but they do have their good moments as well. They still have some things to work on before they reach "stardom" hehe. A.T. will be playing live alot during 2006 so keep your eyes open if you're going to Central Illinois Metalfest, Gathering of the sick fest 6 and in July they areout touring in the US alongside with Neuraxis and Beneath the massacre. They even have an European tour in the works for late 2006.

-Uffe

[Brutal Bands]

SUPREME BRUTALITY - www.supremebrutality.net (http://www.supremebrutality.net)

There's nothing like good dose of brutal death metal and Maltese deathgrinders Abysmal Torment clearly knows that. Their first full-length effort Epoch of Methodic Carnage is a brutal firestorm of deathgrind from start to finish. Epoch of Methodic Carnage is bone splintering deathgrind when it's best.

The similarities with their countrymen in Beheaded are there, but still Abysmal Torment sound nothing like a clone. The band has progressed since I last heard their music. It's quite clear that they have a good ear for writing some varied and captivating songs. The music is extremely fast, but the band doesn't solely rely on this. Most of the songs are stuffed with slow and ultra heavy parts. Examples of this include "Flayed Dismembered and Feasted Upon" and "Gradification Through Castration", but this is an almost common demeanour in every song. Moreover there's an odd, but very captivating kind of groove in some of the songs. Like for instance in the end of "Epoch of Methodic Carnage", a groove that is highly addictive. The two vocalists Nicky Farrugia and Gordon Formosa do a terrific job in complementing each other. The vocals are low and guttural, but still greatly varied. It adds a lot of color to the soundscape. Epoch of Methodic Carnage is full-on brutality from start to finish, but the band is always in control of what they are doing so it never tend to become too much or chaotic.

Unlike a lot of albums in this genre the sound is fat and full. It fits the music flawlessly and makes it appear even more powerful and compact. There's not one weak or boring track on Epoch of Methodic Carnage, but the highlights for my concern are without a doubt "Befouled With Zest", "Epoch of Methodic Carnage", "Battered Into Nothingness" and "Gradification Through Castration". The band has also got a bit of humour which comes to show at the end of the album. If you like your music ultra heavy and relentlessly brutal a la Beheaded, Severed Savior, Disgorge, or just US styled deathgrind in general then Epoch of Methodic Carnage is unavoidable. It doesn't come much more savage than this.

PSL
Rating: 6/6

[Brutal Bands]

MY LAST CHAPTER - www.mylastchapter.com (http://www.mylastchapter.com)

After the truly arse-kicking MCD Incised Wound Suicide these Maltese death manglers finally gives us a fullength. And this time they’ve added more breakdowns and ‘stop and go’ parts (actually reminding me of some hardcore bands). But don’t get me wrong here, this is full of brutal and grinding death metal.

Do you have a particular person you want to be maimed, dislimbed and finally disgorged? Well then I’d advise you to set this gored grind outfit Abysmal Torment lose upon him/her, as they’ll get to work with the precision of a professional killing machine. Brutal and freakishly accurate and tight drumming meets fat, pummelling strings and spiced with two deranged growlers that’ll keep gurgling in your nightmares.

The skilled musicians in this band proves to be able to keep the same intensity and brutality throughout a five minute long track, something others would fail terribly at. Most of the songs vary between four and five minutes. Awesome sound quality, tight musicianship, brutal-as-fuck death metal, and marvellous artwork… There’s not a single bad thing about this album. A 42 minute assault of butchering, slashing and murdering death metal.

Grade: 9/10

[Brutal Bands]

HYPERBLAST UNIVERSE 'Zine - www.hyperblast-universe.tk (http://www.hyperblast-universe.tk)

There so many people talking about good matter about this new brutal death metal bands hailings from Malta, ' Epoch Of Methodic Carnage ' is their 2nd follow up in creating sickness campaign. A full lenght that filled by hermetic blast drumming, intense and heavy guitars along with double layers gurgle vocals which taking the band to higher position.

About high velocity, crushing breakdowns and few killer moshing parts, some reasons to answer why Abysmal Torment is sparkling between thousand brutal death metal groups.

Brutal Bands deal for 3 albums with the band, so it is important to have their collection release since 'Incised Wound Suicide', not only the band have promising idea in compose their concept but also they have great formula to spread the sickness and make it to be addicted. The album is new standard in extreme violence music.

Rating: 10/10

[Brutal Bands]

CHOKING ON BILE - www.chokingonbile.com (http://www.chokingonbile.com)

Besides Beheaded Malta has also Abysmal Torment to offer and although Beheaded’s name is more known, the music on ‘Epoch Of Methodic Carnage’ deserves to get a shared first place with their country mates. For what Abysmal Torment shows us here is very good and can easily compete with many bands in the scene. After the mini-CD ‘Incised Wound Suicide’ from 2004, re-released a small year later by their current label Brutal Bands, things seemed a bit silent around these grinders, but as is shown now they have not been wasting their time. You’ll find ten tracks of very brutal yet grooving and fast paced death metal in the vein of Jasad, Asphyxiate, Bloody Gore, Beheaded or the more recent stream of Colombian acts. Ferocious drums, often double gurgling vocals - there are two singers active - some fine and ‘tearing’ guitars. You do need to increase the bass-settings on your speaker a bit to get a full sound, but that aside the production is exactly what this music needs. The disc sounds unpolished and harsh, but never drowns in extremity alone. It’s a shame that the so thoroughly composed songs are not always tightly played n the fast parts, the drummer always ends well but cheats a little in the more lengthy blastparts. It isn’t irritating, yet not proper either. Quite lengthy tracks, more than four minutes on average, which all posses a different feel, what makes this release enjoyable from beginning to end. What they may lack a little in originality they compensate in brutality for sure: worth every single one of the five stars.

Jona

[Brutal Bands]

SOD Magazine #23

When there’s no more room in Hell...the dead shall walk the earth. Well, there must be a crack in the earth in the vicinity of Malta because the unrelenting torture inflicted upon the listener by Epoch of Methodic Carnage could only have been created by the undead themselves. This is out-of-control, brutal beyond reason Death Metal/Grindcore that attacks like a billion razor blades in a hurricane. Throw in a horrific cover painting by Tony Koehl, a premium 12-page booklet packed with gore-soaked lyrics and imagry and you have an essential purchase for both the living and the dead. (DH)

10 Fucking Skulls

[Brutal Bands]

Metal Storm - www.metalstorm.ee (http://www.metalstorm.ee)

I usually write a small introduction in my reviews as you might remember (or not, whatever), but this time, this album deserves something else, so I’ll go straight to the point right now; Epoch Of Methodic Carnage is one of the best Brutal Death Metal albums this year; having said that I’ll explain a little more about this outstanding piece of music.

Ok Brutal Death Metal is a really peculiar genre and I’m sure many metal-heads dig only 2 or 3 bands regarding this genre; maybe you are saying right now “most bands nowadays sound just like Devourment or in other cases just like Deeds Of Flesh, there’s not enough room in Brutal Death to explore or dig a little deeper you know?” well, Abysmal Torment just proved you wrong, a band from Malta that will literally melt your eardrums each time you push play in your stereo.

Epoch Of Methodic Carnage is wrapped with overwhelming metal, a lot of super-catchy riffs here and there and utter brutality all along the album. The music presented is really technical and multifaceted (in the brutal kind of way of course), each breakdown is even stronger than the previous one, the riffs are catchy but violent, the bass-lines add great atmosphere towards the sound and the drum-beats explore beyond blast-beats. The tunes are carried on with dual vocals which, by the way, are really intense and explosive; the deeper vocals steal the spotlight this time though.

Regarding songwriting and execution this album is almost flawless, the structures in each song will keep you entertained chord by chord and beat by beat (just check the awesome progression in ”Wretched Stagnant Blood”), there are other songs (for example ”Epoch of Methodic Carnage”) with even more intricate structures, a lot of pauses, comebacks, chromatic breakdowns, etc. The instruments sound impressive and really clear (that in relation to the production of course), so you won’t only get amazing music but great sound and mix as well.

This album is really fucking brutal, so I’m sure some people won’t understand it, mostly metal purists who think metal music should feature keyboards or a cello damn it; but if you do like metal the way it should be made then grab this album instantly, you won’t be disappointed believe me.

Best Tracks: “Epoch Of Methodic Carnage”, “Lurid Iniquity”, “Gratification Through Castration”

Rating: 8.6

[metalgearX3]

Tuefels Tomb-

http://www.teufelstomb.com/reviews/abysmaltorment06.html

As an admitted non-fan of the majority of brutal death metal acts and releases I was extremely surprised by the debut of Malta's Abysmal Torment, Incised Wound Suicide. The material was heavy, fast, technical, catchy with guttural vocals; a grand slam of brutality.

Like a baseball bat to the back of the skull comes the group's first full length offering Epoch Of Methodic Carnage; 10 tracks of ultra brutal death metal in the same crushing style as their debut. For those of you unfamiliar with Incised Wound Suicide, Abysmal Torment's sound can be best described as a pretty even mix of simplistic and technical American brutal death.

Epoch Of Methodic Carnage is not going to redefine the brutal death metal genre as, like the debut, they don't offer anything new or groundbreaking, but what they do provide is a consistently high-quality effort. For the most part the material tends to sound like equal parts Brodequin, Devourment and Californian Disgorge mixed with moments of slight mid-90s Cannibal Corpse riffing style.

For the most part the music is fast paced with plenty of blasts and razor sharp riffs with a dual guttural vocal assault, which, honestly, gets a little tedious after a while, but where the group shines is during the slower moments and breakdowns. Nearly every track contains at least a solid minute of material, if not the entire track, that'll make you want to start breaking shit in time with the music, but there is a lot of lifeless filler material that I tend to get bored with, much as I do with the past few Disgorge full length offerings.

Fans of Abysmal Torment's debut will be thrashing themselves senseless to Epoch Of Methodic Carnage and though it's not as catchy overall as Incised Wound Suicide, it's still a solid slab of brutality and should appeal to all fans of the genre. I would have liked to see the band grow more song-writing wise and develop their own unique style, but while it may not be anything new at least it's done right with a solid production and great musicianship.