Abscess
Horrorhammer

With this release, the Americans Abscess reach the fifth full of their career and for the occasion, together with Peaceville Records, the work is also signed by the partner label Tyrant Syndicate, founded by Nocturno Culto and Fenriz (Darkthrone).

After admiring an artwork, at first glance confusing, signed by Dennis Dread, there's barely time to start the first track “Drink the Filth” before being pervaded by an initial solo just 17 seconds into the album, leaving us with a brief feeling of disorientation. Space is then left for a blast beat and typical well-constructed death metal riffs, without too many pretensions, to which the demonic and obsessive voices of Bower and Reifert fit well.
Even before the initial 60 seconds expire, a second solo similar to the first leaves slightly perplexed for another twenty seconds before resuming the main riff.
Shortly after, we find a third solo, shorter than the first two but equally fast, before leaving space for the main riff, repetitive and obsessive until a sick scream that will decree the end of this first track, short but intense.
It is in the second track “New Disease” that we begin to understand something of this disease which, aided by a few slower and more marked seconds, begins to infiltrate the mind, assisted by three very short solos that this time do not clash with the context.
The slower, almost imperial, intro of “Poison Messiah”, one of the longest tracks of the release with its abundant 4 minutes, leaves room once again for a blast beat and an obsessive riff that accompanies it, broken by an unexpected but welcome passage from the doom atmosphere.
Stunned and perhaps still a bit confused, things are made worse by the fourth track “Another Private Hell”. Here you would expect another predominantly death metal track, and instead, almost surprisingly, our auditory canals fill with old-school punk hardcore, ending in just 1:13. The voices become slightly less demonic and heavy, making way for anger hidden behind the disease that has filled the previous tracks so far.

Similarly to the previous, “Exterminate” traces the repetitive and raw sounds of old school hardcore, broken only by a few dozen seconds where the tempo is slowed down.

As if we weren't incredulous enough about sudden changes of style and genre, “When Witches Burn” starts with a rather slow, heavy metal-flavored intro that will be the main mood for the whole song, except for some parts approaching doom. The voices return to being screams, heavy laments trying to free themselves from suffering now instilled in every fiber of the body.
“Four Grey Walls” brings back the punk hardcore we have now become accustomed to hearing on this album, and precisely because of this, it no longer surprises us as before. In fact, this track tends to be a bit of a photocopy - albeit well done - of a thousand propaganda punk hardcore songs as it almost totally loses the air of discomfort breathed so far.
Almost like a cycle, doom returns in the initial part of “Beneath a Blood Red Sun”, after which, for the first time on the album, we can find the almost perfect combination of death metal and punk trying to coexist in the same storeroom, jostling a bit. We don't have much time to reflect and analyze this mix of moods as the initial part is re-proposed. A pity, it could have been interesting to explore this aspect further.
The death metal sounds return, albeit slow and chanting, in the instrumental track that gives the work its name “Horrorhammer”. Here too, in the central part, we can find punk mixed with death metal, although the pairing still seems a bit forced.

“Hellhole” starts with a two-guitar part, a little more contemporary in origin, and continues with a solo on a nice heavy drum and angry shouts again: finally, this song without too many pretensions but catchy and gritty makes the head move again.
La Marcia della Piaga -“March of the Plague”- offers us again the usual doom riff which in some ways is reminiscent of something from the Electric Wizard without redundancy of effects. A bit of relief soon finds a more rhythmic and angry part that can only please. The initial mood will be found in the concluding part of the track up to the final fade out.
The last 2:28 are marked by “The Eternal Pyre”, the last track of the Abscess work, where just to not contradict themselves they return with a bit of hardcore. Nothing particularly exciting having reached the end of the album.

After the first listen to this record, it almost certainly feels the need to listen to it again to understand it better and in my opinion, one will come to the conclusion that it is not a bad release. It has its strengths that, however, do not far exceed the weak ones but give this record some points beyond adequacy.
Who knows, by listening to it further, it might end up reaching a good level on the scale between 1 and 100, but for now, it stops at 65/100.