Abacinate, Genesis

I don’t tend to go for deathcore as much as I used to, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t find Abacinate’s latest effort a healthy dose of kick-assery. Genesis could very easily be thrown into the deathcore pool, but unlike many of their contemporaries that still tread water in the shallow end, this New Jersey crew actually hurls some seriously decent death metal your way via traditional deathcore trappings.

While researching as I prepared to review Genesis, I learned that the band’s vocalist, Jason Sica, passed away last September. That’s truly a shame. His delivery is just about perfect for this kind of music — deep guttural growls, raspy shrieks and hardcore-style shouts all come together for a very natural and smooth overall presentation. It will be interesting to see where the band goes on from here. There’s a pile of talent in this album, despite the band’s unfortunate loss.

As far as Genesis is concerned, there are enough death metal outbursts to keep, at least, myself entertained, while Abacinate also incorporate just enough hardcore elements for those fans looking for more of that, as well. It’s a precarious position to find yourself in, I suppose, but the band seems to balance the varied elements (from At the Gates to more traditional U.S. death metal). It’s not a stellar album, but it does have enough going on to keep the listener engaged long enough to make it through the album a couple of times.

For as strange as the title may be, “Necroplunger” is a hell of a song. It’s got serious death metal chops and technical flourishes abound. It’s quickly followed by the chugging, yet groove injected vibe of “The Natural Disasters” — a song that shows a solid, varied base for the band to grow from. “An American Obsession” starts off with a nice chugging gallop before diving head first into a furious bit of crushing riffage. The two-track spanning instrumental “Laughing in the Dark” contains some of the best material on the album, albeit the least death metal influenced of them — there’s a little bit of everything here from doom to thrash to some sweet melodic riffing.

While the future of Abacinate may still be up in the air, the music within the confines of Genesis certainly is not. It’s burly, chugging nature may be more akin to the deathcore style, but the death metal influences amongst the mosh are just too strong to ignore.