Abolition A.D - After Death Before Chaos

Pulverised Records have been one of the most consistent and impressive extreme metal labels in recent years. The Singapore based label have been releasing all manner of extreme metal releases from across the globe. Amongst their ranks you've got bands like Zombiefication (Mexico) and Hexen (USA who have both featured on this blog before, as well as Scandinavian bands like Crucifyre and Morbus Chron. Now they have released this album from Singaporean locals Abolition A.D. They were founded in 2009 and by their own admission, don't stick to genre convention. They released their first EP in 2010 prior to releasing their debut via Pulverised Records earlier this year.

Tracklisting:-

1. Enchanted Land
2. Ouroboros
3. Primal Fear
4. Interlude
5. After Death Before Chaos
6. V.I.P
7. Medieval Minds

At first glance, the album’s opener Enchanted Land comes across as a casual mix of death and sludge, but it seems to get heavier as the low-growled vocals take hold. At nearly the two-minute mark it defends into a crusty wall of noise and pace ratchets up. The low-end takes control for pretty much the whole song and gives a massive amount of punch. Ouroboros has a raw thrash feel to it as the lone riff kicks in at the start. It’s not long before Abolition A.D’s noise take over again though and this time there’s no hanging around. The dank and mournful sludge approach has been forsaken in favour of crust-laden death metal of the highest order.

Don’t worry, Primal Fear is nothing like the power-metal band of the same name. It’s completely the opposite, as you’d expect. The production on the record is geared up to making Abolition A.D sound heavy and fearsome, without any whiff of over-worked polish. It does it’s job, that’s for sure. Midway through Abolition A.D see fit to throw in an Interlude. It’s made of buzz-saw guitar and thick bass. It’s completely instrumental but still manages to maintain the band’s claustrophobic atmosphere. 

They launch back into things with the title track, which doesn’t seem quite as intense as previous songs but will still wipe the floor with anyone who dares to listen. V.I.P brings some much need melody in it’s intro section, which carries on through. It seems to take the atmosphere in an even more menacing direction. Both V.I.P and closer Medieval Minds see Abolition A.D expanding on their writing and building two lengthier, slower tracks that are not unlike opener Enchanted Land. While not as noisy, they come at you from a different end of the extremity spectrum. 

Medieval Minds in the longest song on the album, reaching nearly seven minutes in total. Listening to it in the humidity of our strangely hot British summer gives you some impression of what it must feel like all of the time in the bands native Singapore. The guitar melodies that adorn this song are something else and show another side to the band. It’s a suffocating end to an album that could probably go down as the most extreme metal album to 2014, in my opinion.

Stream the whole of After Death Before Chaos here:-




You can pick it up as a digital download from Pulverised's bandcamp page above.

CD's can be purchased here - http://pulverised.bigcartel.com

Abolition A.D Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AbolitionAd
Pulverised Records Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pulverisedrecords