Abacinate
Genesis
Keansburg, NJ
“Abacinate (verb) – To blind with red hot metal”
There’s something toxic in New Jersey’s water supply. Not only did it create Snooki, it also spawned Abacinate. Both are downright disgusting, but for the band it’s a compliment. Diagonal riffs, clockwork kick drums and bile dredging vocals permeate every morsel on Genesis, a delicious slab of deathcore. While heavy metal and hardcore have been blending for decades, Abacinate’s orgy of styles goes far beyond the majority of their peers.
Combining the best of Machine Head, Dying Fetus and Suffocation, Abacinate switches from grindcore blasts to heavy breakdowns and does so with dramatic flare, changing gears so often that the blitzkrieg assaults deafen while the slower sections dent the forehead like a ball-peen hammer. They also dabble in a bit of black metal, and in a jaw-dropping instrumental moment, a shuffle blues section.
The only misstep on Genesis is the thuggish tinge to some of the lyrics. A little cock-in-the-walk is admirable and even encouraged within the genre, but lines like “Abacinate 2010, bitch” make one think The Situation got a new gig.
These few moments not withstanding, this is a seriously sick record, with enough complexity to interest tech-heads but brutal and blunt enough for the bottom feeders. (Epitomite Productions)
Recorded by Will Putney at the Machine Shop in Weehawken, NJ
-Joshua Bottomley