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Nov 8, 20224 min read

Aborym - Psychogrotesque (2010)

FROM THE CRYPTS - CELEBRATING PAST ALBUM RELEASES in the HISTORY of HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL…



On November 8, 2010 Industrial Black Metallers Aborym released their fifth full-length studio album Psychogrotesque via Season of Mist.


The album was recorded, mixed and mastered at Fear No One Studios by Emiliano Natali, with the sound consulting of Marc Urselli (founder of The M.E.M.O.R.Y. Lab and sound engineer for artists like John Zorn, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Eric Clapton) at the Eastside Sound Studios in New York.


Background:

In 2010, Aborym became a trio: Fabban, Bård G. Eithun and new guitarist Paolo "Hell:IO:Kabbalus" Pieri. Recording of their fifth album commenced on February 20, 2010, at Fear No One Studios, and as previously mentioned, it was recorded under the supervision of sound engineer Emiliano Natali. The band announced that the album would consist of a single track, which they described as "a harsh sonic monolith of sickness and depravity".



As also noted previously, the album featured sound consulting by Marc Urselli Shrarer at Eastside Sound Studios, New York. As usual, the album was announced to be featuring a number of guest appearances, in this case Narchost (of Fabban's other band, Malfeitor), Karyn Crisis (Crisis), Davide Tiso (Ephel Duath), Marcello Balena, and Richard Szabo (of Timewave Zero), amongst others yet to be revealed.


In August 2010, Aborym announced that the title of the fifth album was to be Psychgrotesque and that it was to be released on November 8 in Europe (November 23 in the USA). The band described the album as a "realistic story about the horrific human aridity and its fragile impotence". A social metaphor, uncomfortable but very current, treated cynically by bassist-singer Fabban through a story set in a mental hospital, which suggests that he used his pen with an absolute commitment and the determination to keep off Aborym from the banality and clichés both ideological/aptitudinal and musical that saturate the Extreme Metal scene.


Alex, from Archaic Magazine commented:

"The very aptly named Psychogrotesque once again manages to make most Black Metal acts sound like Lady Gaga: the suffocating levels of abject perversion are scarily palpable, drenched in truly malignant horror and overt twistedness".

Peter Loftus, from Norway's Eternal Terror, said:

"There is so much to love here, and it speaks lots that such an intense and insane album can be crafted to have such a wide appeal. Definitely recommended".

Pier Marzano of Italy's Grindzone wrote:

"Citare se stessi è un lusso che si concede ai soli maestri del genere; reinventarsi pur riferendosi palesemente al proprio passato, non ha prezzo. Imperdibili, anche questa volta".

Critical Reception:

In a review for metalstorm.net, KwonVerge writes;

“In my book, from what I've seen throughout the years, Aborym is a love it or hate it band, now, concerning me, I've always concidered more or less their mechanized black metal a pleasant experience, neither awesome nor disgusting. Attila Csihar's contribution consisted of an important boost for the band that kept a steady course in blending electronics with black metal and they never stepped away from their connection with the norwegian scene, after Attila (I know he's from Hungary, Mayhem ain't) left Faust came in, along with Prime Evil of Mysticum fame.
Four years passed since Generator and Prime Evil is no longer part of the band. The main figure behind Aborym, Malfeitor Fabban, deals with the vocals on the new album, Psychogrotesque, having brought in a new guitarist as well, Hell:I0:Kabbalus. Along with the basic trio you will find a wide variety of guest musicians on vocals, electronics, guitars etc, Narchost (Malfeitor), Karyn Crisis (Crisis), Giulio Moschini (Hour Of Penance) and Davide Tiso (Ephel Duath) to name a few. Psychogrotesque deals with acylum aspects of life and the cover artwork is spot-on on both the lyrical matter, the title and the vibes that come forth during the listening procession. I liked pretty much the single-lighted room, insomnia's always the best friend of a mentally awakened mind.
Insects, carriers of plagues but of importance to nature as well, insects, this is what you'll notice in "I" as the albums slowly comes to life and in this case they're not for good, insects; and a pounding heart. I like Ill-natured atmosphere, I like it a lot and Psychogrotesque holds loads of it, it's sick enough to make my braincells gunshot one another until there's only one left standing; and you know where it can point the barrel at. This time everything seems well-conceived, well-composed and well-executed and in my humble opinion Aborym surpassed themselves with this attempt, it was one big step ahead so as not to keep up once again with the With No Human Intervention/Generator story. The electronics this time flirt with dark electro/EBM in a well-structured way ("II", "V", "VIII"), yet they keep the chaotic industrial edge amidst FX and sequences the band had on previous releases alongside floating keyboards. I like the samples, I like them a lot, they appear in the most ideal moment, alarm sound, breaking glass, voices, fading steps, iron doors, classical music, lullaby toy music, all those sounds fit in the exact moment they should and the slight use of Marcello Balena's saxophone just adds to the overall atmosphere ("V", "VI"). Of course the guitars are here once again, they couldn't be missing, nausiating solos, noisy suspending riffing, more static groundshakers and of course melodic harmonies, at the right time, in the right place, for the right reason. As for the vocal factor, a wide variety of sickening shrieks and demented recites/whispers ("IV"/"IX"), as well as clean interpretations with a different aura each time ("V", "VI", "VIII"), while Faust performs really well, offering either a mechanical or more organic sound, everything at its time, alongside the beat and the cold bass lines.
Psychogrotesque is the amusement park of dementia, a movie-like horrifying sound existence better served as a whole for it's an entity, a foul one, the big step ahead in the open cliff.”

Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells



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