Promising “uncensored gory fun for all the family”, Aborted’s ninth album sees the Belgians at the very peak of their powers.
Packed full of pummelling death metal rippers and more hooks than their beloved Cenobites from Hellraiser, their 12-track opus is performed with almost machine-like precision. In a move that might surprise some, Retrograde is, in places, their most political offering to date, and they tackle the prickly topics of religion and corruption (Divine Impediment, Coven Of Ignorance).
Old-school Aborted fans shouldn’t fret too much; they haven’t contracted a dose of the ‘serious artists’, as those songs are sandwiched in between their traditional tongue-in-cheek horror-based offerings and there are plenty of pit anthems to appease the faithful (Whoremageddon).
New recruit Ian Jekelis makes his presence felt on the record as he and fellow axe-wielder Mendel bij de Leij perform some serious shredding (Termination Redux) and tub thumper Ken Bendene delivers a barrage of speaker-shaking blastbeats (Cadaverous Collection), all of which help make this a venomous release from the veterans.
