Monday, June 22, 2009

Abramelin - Abramelin (1995)

Abramelin's first full-length album under that name (they'd originally been called Acheron) is a gem of utter brutality - death metal the way it was meant to be played. This album combines the utter ferocity and melodic sensibility of early Dismember with the morbid, yet classy lead guitar work of Carcass' Necroticism and the speed of Vader, but not without adding their own very distinctive sense of unpredictability (not just in the layout of the songs, but also in the unexpected but oddly fitting cover of Dead Can Dance's "Cantara" as the album's closer.)