Abscess
Seminal Vampires And Maggot Men

I would like to open a small parenthesis in "Discovering Forgotten Death Metal" and talk for a moment about Death Metal that is (fortunately) forgotten. And in this regard, how can we not talk about Abscess?

Do you remember Autopsy? Does the name Chris Reifert mean anything to you? Well done, you've got it: the "mind" behind Abscess is the same Chris who played with Death back in 1987 and later brought Autopsy to life in 1989, putting an end to the "Autopsy" in 1995 after the disappointing "Shitfun." We all know that good taste isn't exactly at home in the grim depths of Death Metal, and we all know it's even less so with good old Chris; but as we know, with time, habits worsen, and stupidity, rot, and ignorance were destined to degenerate. The result is Abscess, theoretically an attempt to revive the dead and lauded Autopsy, but in reality, a squalid revival trying to evoke past glories with an immense load of nonsense.

The year 1996 was a golden year for Death Metal: Death ventured to new shores with "Symbolic," Deeds Of Flesh founded the new Californian school with "Trading Pieces," Suffocation filled their pockets with "Pierced From Within," Cannibal Corpse dusted themselves off with Gorge Fisher and released "Vile," Cryptopsy published that absolute masterpiece of Death Metal known as "None So Vile," and Dying Fetus recorded "Purification Through Violence." Europe was also buzzing with the emerging Melodeath movement and some gems like "Hate" by Sinister. And what do Abscess do? Simple, as a good Raw Death group, they regress and release "Seminal Vampires And Maggot Men," a malodorous sack of manure that tarnished the good names of groups like those mentioned; while everyone was striving to play technically impeccable music, they were playing cheap junk, while everyone was delving deep into themes of death and horror, they were lowering them to barrack levels, while some were trying to insert jazz composition techniques, they drew from the most crude Death Grind ever.

In truth, defining "Seminal Vampires and Maggot Men" as a Death album is quite an approximation since the sound proposed by our friends is a Death Grind with strong (and I repeat "strong") Hardcore leanings. "But it sucks!" Exactly, it sucks tremendously, this album is a bucket of guano; however, I would like to reflect on this. Although the sound is different from Autopsy, the concept is still to make crappy music for the pleasure of making crappy music (and in this definition, I want to include the act of saying nonsense, playing badly, composing poorly); now, statistical data shows that Autopsy is greatly appreciated among Death Metal fans, so by transitive property, Abscess should be as well. However, other statistical data shows that those who loved Autopsy hate Abscess; this, from a logical standpoint, makes no sense! Personally, I don't like either one or the other, only that the latter arrived late, at a musical historical moment when doing so no longer made sense: after all, Impetigo had already thought of that, and there was no need for a clone group.

The songs are short (an average of two minutes per song for eighteen tracks total), repetitive, and incommensurably bad. They do evoke some laughs, no complaints in this regard, but it's not enough to give titles like "I Don't Give A Fuck" or "Burn, Die And Fucking Fry" to save an album's fate. The guitars, while not being dull, seem to be played by a band of unruly kids rather than glorious Death Metallers, the drums seem to be played upside down (snare with the feet and shells with the hands), and the singing is a sort of series of verses and grunts far from the definition of Growl.

Anyone expecting a rotten CD will be disappointed; the proposal from Abscess at their debut (they will later move toward more properly Death Metal terrains) is withered, fetid but lacking the putrescent charm of Autopsy's records. Personally, I consider the cover one of the most beautiful, idiotic, and grotesque in metal history, but unfortunately, I don't think it's a good reason to dive into searching for this album.

Don't spend sleepless nights wondering about the hidden meaning of this CD, and don't go to Delphi just to consult the oracle; you'll probably put it in trouble.