A Definite Pulse
Belgium-based Aborted have no interest in winning any contests to be the fastest, loudest, least coherent grindcore band out there, though they would be high in the running. Global Flatline is their seventh collection of mechanically fast pounding and screaming-growling, characteristic of the genre. However, the songs that splinter off into more plodding beats are more compelling than some of their counterparts.
The revolving-door personnel includes ex-Abigail Williams members Ken Bedene (drums) and Mike Wilson (guitar) joining longtime vocalist Sven de Caluwe. They continue to provide a technical prowess and death-metal sensibility that separates Aborted from the rest of the pack. The title track starts out deceptively slow and dark before it whips into the blast beats. Some of the solos are pleasantly melodic and add a thrash edge to the album, legitimizing it as its own.
Not to be taken too seriously, the titles might have been written by a 15-year-old boy, which only helps their cause. Who wouldn’t pay attention to a track called “Fecal Forgery” or “Nailed Through Her Cunt”? They also happen to be the two strongest songs on Global Flatline. Other favorite titles (and tracks) include “Our Father, Who Art of Feces” and “From a Tepid Whiff,” the latter of which also appeared on the 2010 EP Coronary Reconstruction. While the bones of the songs makes them indistinguishable from one another, the flesh around them displays flashes of creativity and virtuosity.
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