20 Years of Nekrogoblikon with Special Guests Aborted

What happens when you put a bunch of bloodthirsty, music-loving goblins together? Well, a lot of disembowelment, but also a lot of catchy tunes. Formed six millennia ago, and practicing only every other leap year on a full moon, the band has perfected their brand of crushing goblin music. 

Since their unholy inception in 1995, death metal miscreants ABORTED have been one of the pioneers of the genre and have annihilated friend and foe with relentless intensity and an uncompromising mix of flawless technicality and raw emotion. Having carved a niche for themselves in the extreme metal realm, the multi-national combo around Sven de Caluwé initially gained notoriety by offering up ruthlessly fast death-grind with groovy breakdowns on their early works (‘The Purity of Perversion’, ‘Goremageddon: The Saw And The Carnage Done’). By meticulously crafting and introducing more technical elements on more recent releases such as “TerrorVision”, “Retrogore” and “ManiaCult”, ABORTED has consistently sharpened their lethal blend of furious death metal. Thereby firmly cementing their status as one of the most menacing and envelope-pushing metal acts of the 21st century.

For their 12th studio album, "Vault of Horrors", the band teamed up with Nuclear Blast. With each of the 10 new tracks, ABORTED dives deep into the vaults of VHS cassettes and stories that have been haunting us all for decades. Each song pays tribute to a horror cult classic and ranges from obligatory cuts such as ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (to be found on “Death Cult”) or ‘Halloween’ (‘The Shape Of Hate’) to the more recent ‘The Mist’ to be discovered on ‘Malevolent Haze’.

“I realized I scream things I’m too chickenshit to talk about,” admits Signs of the Swarm vocalist David Simonich.

It’s a surprising admission for a band as self-assured as the Pittsburgh titans, especially when one hears sixth LP To Rid Myself of Truth: a title that exemplifies yet sounds a hell of a lot cooler than the quoted confession, and an album that exudes confidence.

The growth is palpable as Signs of the Swarm are reunited with producer Josh Schroeder (Lorna Shore, Mental Cruelty, Varials, King 810) to continue molting their slamming deathcore exoskeleton. That metal metamorphosis reveals a band now as indebted to Meshuggah, Gojira and Fear Factory as any of the deathcore bands they grew up on—now peers.

It’s not to say they don’t still slam with the best of them—and Simonich’s gargling, acidic growls out-monster his peers—but the focus has evolved into a modern metal paradox: chorus-driven deathcore. In an era where “look-at-me” moments are prioritized to appeal to shrinking attention spans, Signs of the Swarm’s pursuit of substance over style of the month is as refreshing as it could be surprising.

“I know it’s ironic given ‘the part’ of ‘Amongst the Low & Empty’ that blew up, but we’ve never had ‘Tik Tok’ as our goal,” admits main writer (and drummer) Bobby Crow of his double bass maelstrom. “For that song, it was simply what I felt it needed, which is why there are less PARTS on the new album, but that overwhelming energy is everywhere.”

Scotland’s least favourite band return with a fresh helping of IQ lowering, bench press increasing, taste defying Party Slam!

SUBJECTED TO A PARTYING is the latest offering from one of the most infamous bands ever to emerge from the slam death metal scene. Breakdowns, blastbeats, inhuman gutturals and full on nonsense from start to finish. It is heavily advised you wear a helmet while listening.

See you in that pushup pit soon. xPxCx