Description

Showing up in the extremity-obsessed death metal climate of the early '00s, Through the Cracks of Death — with its lack of blastbeats, drum triggers, and technical obsession in general — sounds positively old-school compared to much of its competition. That's not a bad thing, though, since Abscess does a good job of mixing up its influences and keeping the album varied from one track to the next. Along with the more standard double-time thrashing that dominates much of the album, there are also a number of doom-y slow sections (reminiscent of a more dissonant Black Sabbath or even High on Fire), as well as moments of out-and-out rock (with the requisite barfed-out vocals on top), such as "Mourners Will Burn." The performances are very loose and live-sounding, topped off by plenty of over-the-top guitar solos — seemingly squeezed into every possible open space — and growling/shrieking vocal tradeoffs that give the impression that a lot of alcohol was involved in these recording sessions. Fittingly, the production is rough around the edges, but this adds to the overall effect; the drum sound is a little thin and the recording quality overall is a tad muddy, but that is probably intentional. On the whole, this album sounds like it was a lot of fun to make (even the grim subject matter is delivered with a sneering sort of sarcasm), and although it is no grand artistic statement, it is refreshing for its unpolished, uncomplicated, and hard-rocking take on death metal. Track listing: 1. Raping The Multiverse 2. Mourners Will Burn 3. Through The Cracks Of Death 4. Escalation Of Violence 5. Serpent Of Dementia 6. An Asylum Below 7. Tomb Of The Unknown Junkie 8. Monolithic Damnation 9. Die For Today 10. 16 Horrors 11. Vulnavia