Aborted are from Belgium, and this is their third full-length release. And I kid you not when I say that this is some of better executed brutal, putrid, and gore-filled Death Metal I’ve heard in awhile; well, I suppose since Impaled’s Mondo Medicale release. Though Goremageddon is a little on the short side there is definitely a lot to going on with this CD as Aborted don’t really give the listener much time to rest.

Obviously Aborted has listened to Carcass, as their song titles are straight from the school of Carcass song naming conventions, which is not really bad a thing, since Carcass isn’t around anymore. The sound of band is not the most unique, it’s basically a very brutal version of Necrotism with more blasts and less groove, but Aborted do play this style very well and the production is fantastic. Each song is mostly comprised of 70% grinding Death Metal with plenty of blasts and fast drumming and the other 30% is full of head banging groove. By groove I mean Carcass/Impaled styled head banging, skull crushing riffs with double bass, and not jump up and down lame-core groove. Obviously there are song arrangement exceptions but it gives you an idea of what to expect with this band. The vocals are typical for the style, though, like everything else with the band, are well executed, as vocalist Sven seamlessly transits from standard growls to more gore-based screams. He does change his style often and that almost makes up for the lack of originality in the style. As an added touch Aborted do throw in a couple of melodic leads in a couple of songs, most notably on the first track, Meticulous Invagination which caught me completely by surprise; this was a very nice addition, and not only because it was well played, but also because it was unexpected.

I mentioned previously the production, and with good reason; the production is flawless. As expected the guitars are very thick but not overly muddy, the bass is audible for a band like this (highlighted by some bass only breaks), and the drums sound relatively real. The overall tone and mix doesn’t really sound like anything else and I don’t think I’ve been pummeled over the head by the guitar sound quite like this since I first listened to Amon Amarth. To compliment the guitars, which are also played with a lot of precision and subtle touches, the druming is insane. The drummer has found a tempo that really benefits the band at times; the best way to describe it is not quite as fast as a blast beat, but faster than a typical fast Thrash run. The result, in conjunction with the ultra fast guitar chug makes for a really intense listen and prevents the band from falling into blast beat oblivion.

Overall I really enjoyed this release: it’s heavy, it’s disgustingly sick, the production is great, and it’s easy to listen to and sinks in right away, but does not get boring over time. I can hear some aspects in Aborted that can be considered somewhat unique and if the band continues to evolve with those aspects while remaining brutal I think we can expect big things from this young band in the future. Meanwhile, this will occupy gore fans quite nicely until the next Impaled release.