Rating: 9.0

Country: USA

Release Date: 2004

Record Label: Red Stream

Track list:
1. Kill For The Master
1. Through the Trash Darkly
2. Empty Horizon
3. Swallow the Venom
4. Caverns of Hades [mp3]
5. The Dead are Smiling at me
6. Twilight Bleeds
7. Lust for the Grave
8. The Dream is Dead
9. Damned and Mummified
10. Inferno of Perverse Creation
11. Tattoo Collector
12. Tirade of Hallucinations

Abscess - Damned and Mummified

Chris Reifert - Drums, Vocals
Clint Bower - Guitars, Vocals
Danny Coralles - Guitars
Joe Allen - Bass

To begin this review, a confession. I am a huge Chris Reifert fanboy. I love everything he's done. From Autopsy to Abscess, The Ravenous to Eat My Fuk, the guy can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned. So it was with eager anticipation I got my hands on the new Abscess album, Damned and Mummified.

On this release, Abscess have very much stuck to the “death-punk” formula of Through the Cracks of Death and Tormented, their previous two studio albums, though it retains a bit of the more punk vibe of the Seminal Vampires and Maggot Men album. But essentially this is just raw, filthy, alcohol-and-weed fuelled music that Abscess do like no other. The songwriting as always is top notch – catchy as fuck but retaining that really dark, eerie vibe, and once again Danny Coralles and Clint Bower's solos are top-notch – why these guys aren't mentioned in “best lead duo” polls alongside King/Hanneman, Smith/Murray, Tipton/Downing etc is beyond me. The production is perfect. Somehow they manage to achieve the real dirty and raw vibe while still retaining perfect clarity of all the instruments. A lot of death metal bands could really take some lessons from Abscess in this department – leave the triggers, pitchshifters and slick production values at home and just get in there and bash out the songs and let the awesome songwriting shine through. The fact that this entire album (12 tracks) was recorded and mixed in just four days astonishes me.

Lyrically, the album doesn't deviate too much from the traditional Abscess subject matter – death, maggots eating dead people, people suffering in hell – though there appears to be somewhat more intelligence behind them than mere shock value. Rather, they appear to deal a lot with madness, suicidal thoughts, despair, and psychological issues (on tracks such as “Lust For the Grave”, “Swallow the Venom”, “Twilight Bleeds”, and “The Dream is Dead”. Though having said that, there are still a couple of more lighthearted, humorous tracks such as “Tattoo Collector” and “The Dead are Smiling at Me”.

Cover artwork comes courtesy of Dennis Dread (think Engorged album covers), and while I don't think his art is that ideal for Abscess's music/vibe, this is a very minor gripe. Inside the booklet can be found all the lyrics, a cool photo collage of the band members, and two hand drawn paintings done by Chris himself (the latter of which I feel could have made for more effective cover art than the Dread piece ultimately used, but that's just me).

This is Abscess's debut for Red Stream (also home to his other band The Ravenous) after stints with both Relapse and Peaceville. Not sure of the reason for the label change, but I have heard nothing but good things about Red Stream so we can only hope that it is a productive and fruitful relationship for both parties, because I look forward to hearing more quality Abscess releases for years to come. If this album is anything to go by, then of that we are assured.

If you are new to Abscess, then this release is as good a starting point as any. If you're already a fan, no doubt you'll already have snapped this up by now and don't need me telling you to go get it!

June 1st, 2005