Aborym - Hostile (2021)

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Aborym - Hostile (2021)

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Most Aborym albums play like testimonies of sudden unpredictable turbulent mood swings. Bursts of rage and coldness give way to creeping anxiety, startling roughness give way to scenarios of loneliness and anguish. Harmonic noise predominate. Melodic motifs recur like the whole thing’s being hammered out as the tape rolls. With Hostile Aborym can be considered part of a select group of acts who have the unwanted distinction of being a band whereupon every note of music made after a certain point in time can be deemed something of a triumph. Where Aborym do succeed in bringing themselves full circle, it’s by mixing the acoustic elements, the search for the melody, the coldness of the machines and the industrial influences that surfaced on their Shifting.negative album. Hostile often acts like a cudgel, pounding sludgy guitars and the hip-swiveling grind of the rhythm section directly into the listener’s temporal lobe. Hostile is a cryptic puzzle of darkness, brightness, discomfort, equilibrium and loathing. This is music in its rawest/classy form, an expression from deep within, without any care for convention or crowd-pleasing. It is the sound of four complicated people making long, eye-poppin’ complicated songs together. It’s undoubtedly the most cohesive release of this band. It’s an album that rewards further listens, but nonetheless tends to remain a mildly frustrating introspective experience. Songs are mixed with the purpose to unsettle and agitate listeners, and they aim to offer a fine contrast by balancing this post-industrial (prog)rock-metal aesthetic with enigmatic and slippery technologic delirium.