Darkness always has lived in the rotting heart of death metal, which should be as obvious a sentiment as anything we’ve ever said on this site. It’s a sickening, destructive medium very much on purpose, and it exists to express the most sinister and maniacal ideas humanity is capable of producing. It’s why it’s so alluring and devastating.

Aberration deliver a debut record “Refracture” that exists solely in the thick shadows, lurking and waiting to strike. Over five tracks and 42 brutal minutes, the band—guitarist/vocalist JH, bassist/vocalist DH, guitarist AW, drummer EC—practically weaponizes the idea of suffocating one with darkness, smothering the very idea that positivity and light ever can exist again. This unit brings together members of other heavy crushers such as Void Rot, Suffering Hour, Annihilation Cult, and others to create death metal even deadlier, making this record heavy both musically and mentally.

“Antithesis” fires up and smears, the blistering death chaos spreading generously, the roars compounding with volcanic leads. The guitars sprawl and destroy as a tornadic pace eats its way across land, disorienting as sounds bathe and bubble, the growls retching. A weird aura takes hold as everything comes unglued, the playing leaving extremities tingling, guitars gutting as everything disappears into dissonant hell. “Wresting Vibrations” enters amid tangling guitars, blistering and carving into flesh, a psyche fury frying brain cells. Weirdness surrounds as growls belch, a disorienting aura spreading as the playing leaves you dizzy. Howls crumble as the terror is sucked into a black hole, strange, spacey noises float, and a strangling racket blackens eyes.

“Interstitial Enmity” pounds away, punishing and landing insane blows, a warped sense causing feverish dreams as growls usher in menace. The playing makes your brain feel like it’s melting in your skull as guitars spit heat, trudging and pummeling, blazing off in a storm. “Blighted” slams in with tricky riffs, a pounding tempo, and howls echoing, the battering ram doing ample physical and mental damage. The guitars trick as the hypnosis gets to dangerous levels, disappearing into a bizarre haze. The closing title track slips into a slurry pace, the playing coming unhinged, lurching and trudging into maniacal forces. The growls engorge, destroying as animalistic blasts shred flesh, devastating as riffs race and make your adrenaline spike. Punishing guitars lacerate, the cloud coverage gets ominously thick, and the final jolts and fluid humidity blast into the heart of the cosmos.

“Refracture” is dense and wholly dark, a record that feels intimidating and frightening, making its absorption something of a physical and mental challenge. And it’s worth it to go through the chaos as Aberration make the best of their time and grind your well-being into a convulsing pile of dust. This is music designed to get inside your psyche and drive nails into your mental faculties, and they’re shockingly effective at accomplishing that.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/Aberrationdeath

To buy the album, go here: https://sentientruin.com/releases/aberration-refracture

For more on the label, go here: https://sentientruin.com/