2007 Demo

I'm gonna 'go for the jugular' so to speak with this review, as that's what Abnormality seem to aim for with the music.

We open with the some twisted, otherwordly sounds gradually getting louder, similiar to Hell Awaits for those familiar (and if you're not, get the fuck off this page). And then all of a sudden we burst into frantic, technical riffing, and straight away you know you're in for a death/grind treat. Imagine, if you will, whatever you can concieve as the 'best' brutal death metal/deathgrind, and I'm pretty sure your mind will come up with exactly what this sounds like. It has everything that makes deathgrind such cool music - frantic fret-tapping, multitudes of tempo changes, dizzying riffs going in all different directions at once and an electric mix of more mid/higher range shrieks and low guttural growls.

The musicianship is stellar, one of the most highly noticable pros of this recording upon first listen is how adept the drumming, guitar and bass really are. I mean of course, every brutal death metal band has to have SOME technical skill to pull off certain riffs and drum fills, but Abnormality are, well, abnormally better than most. The riffs are very well written, and are highly effective in creating a brutal atmosphere, but even if they weren't, this demo would still exceed based on an awe-inspiring display of technical skill alone. But of course, the songwriting is top quality too.

One thing I felt about the music, I don't know if this will apply to everyone else, but despite the death/grind tag I actually found the music to be....how do I put it...unfilthy. This, in no way, makes me conjure up gorey images in my head, and so while I hear a certain grindcore flavour to the music, I'd actually liken it to Cryptopsy in terms of sheer insanity. The 'abnormality' seems to refer more to abnormal brain functions rather than anything related to gore or zombies. The only reason this doesn't exceed 80% is because it is only a demo, and as a result is very short. But the quality of the material here is certainly at that level. I recommend this to any death metal and grind fans, or fans of brutal music in general, Abnormality do not disappoint.