Abaddon Incarnate - The Wretched Sermon

Abaddon Incarnate

The Wretched Sermon

by Matt Bozenda at 07 September 2022, 6:47 PM

Irish musicians have become a lot more diversified over the past few generations. Not confined to the folksy goodness of THE DUBLINERS or SWEENEY’S MEN, the cultural walls knocked down by Classic Rock icons PHIL LYNOTT with THIN LIZZY, and not even by revivalist acts like THE CRANBERRIES. No indeed, the little island in the north Atlantic has been home to a much broader spectrum of genres since the old days.

One such band has been putting the country’s docile image on its head since the middle 1990’s, namely the Grindcore/Death metal maniacs of ABADDON INCARNATE, whose sixth album “The Wretched Sermon” is further proof that even this brutish and barbaric genre is not without its surgeons. In spite of the very real power and heaviness, this album is very carefully crafted, and by the time you realize you haven’t been cudgeled, you’ll bleed out by the thousand cuts.

And the cutting begins right away as a rolling drum introduces “Rising Of The Lights”, barraging the listener with Grind/Death assault, managing to find a decent amount of depth in such a short amount of time. The follower, “Veritas”, does the same but takes a different rhythm, maintaining the sound while still expanding on it.

The album follows this tack successfully, capped by a sad piano outro for “Killing Spree”. The melancholia holds up in the start for “Into The Maelstrom” but is very quickly chased away by a return to Grind/Death form. That continues until “Isolation And Decay”, an anomaly at almost seven minutes in length, which does some experimenting and stretching to get that long, feeling a little out of place despite mostly keeping in line with the established sound. The closing track, “Silent Indifference”, goes back to the old formula and ends the album on a distinctly Punkish note.

For the average workaday metalhead with a half-hour-and-change to kill, the gritty Grind/Death of “The Wretched Sermon” may be one of the more passable remedies.The genre’s built-in fans should have no problems finding something they like, whether they’re familiar with ABADDON INCARNATE or not. For nearly thirty years the band has evolved and this album is a good showing of that experience, as there are few flaws to point out.

Standout tracks, however, are limited mostly to the ones mentioned. This critic had to go back and restart a few songs, not realizing the previous one had ended, and so may the average listener have trouble differentiating between all songs. But, if that’s the point of Grindcore to begin with, to press play and let it ride, then one can do well with an album such as “The Wretched Sermon”. Ireland is given a fresh take with ABADDON INCARNATE, and perhaps the whole country could raise a toast in blood.

Musicianship: 9
Songwriting: 8
Memorability: 7
Production: 9