When Autopsy split in the early 90s, Chris Reifert and Danny Coralles started the band Abscess. Somehow though, their brand of gore grind, sick humour and really short songs left me cold and I didn’t bother listening to any of their future releases. Also, when you have two of the original death metal deities in a band, expectation levels shoot up and Urine Junkies and Seminal Vampires and Maggot Men both failed to live up to my expectations. Not until a particularly bizarre interview in Metal Hammer with Chris Reifert was my interest in Abscess rekindled.   

Horrorhammer, the band’s fifth full length in 10 years, was released earlier this year. The album starts with the raucous Drink The Filth which starts off sounding like a Brit punk band before Coralles steps in for a typically chaotic lead guitar part and the band settle into an old school death metal vibe. The punk elements are present through out the album and Abscess do a pretty cool job of melding the whole punk thing into their old school death metal assault. Four Grey Walls has an intro that could have come off a Clash record and I almost expected Reifert to go Oi! Oi! Oi! somewhere in the middle. The song also has a real rock n roll swagger to it while again combining the band members’ death metal past with a racy punk aggression. Still, this is Abscess and the most powerful parts of this album happen when the band decides to slow things down and His Guttural Highness Chris Reifert reclaims his throne as the sickest vocalist in death metal. Title song Horrorhammer has a guitar line that’s vintage Autopsy before going off on a classic 80s death thrash vibe. Kickass song. Also, around the fifth song of this album, Coralles really comes into his own. His riffing is classic death metal and his lead playing reminds one of the days of Mental Funeral. 

The album is consistent and quite straight forward. The music will not appeal to everybody but if you like raw dirty death metal with no posturing, then you’ll find quite a bit to like in Horrorhammer.  

Like with Autopsy, the real moments of drama happen when the band slows things down. Beneath A Blood Red Sun sounds like classic Autopsy and really benefits from a slowed down doomy middle part before ending in an explosion of death metal frenzy. Reifert handles the drums and vocals on this album like always and does a terrific job. His voice has to be one of the most recognizable in Death Metal and those low guttural rasps are as effective here as they were on Autopsy’s Acts Of The Unspeakable. Coralles and fellow guitarist Clint Bower focus on dirty death metal grooves interspersed with dirty punk grooves. Although the punk influence is pushed back half way into the album in favour of a death metal attack, the melding of the two styles is done well and the songs all sound quite kickass. Also, like Autopsy, it’s those chaotic bits where Coralles is going crazy and the band sound on the verge of blowing their speakers and calling it quits that sound terrific. 

Overall, Horrorhammer is a short sharp and vicious set of songs that sit well with anything that the band members have done previously.

Year of Release: 2007

Label: Peaceville