Band:	Aborted
Album:	Slaughter & Apparatus: A Methodical Overture
Style:	Brutal death metal
Release date:	February 19, 2007
A review by:	Baz Anderson

01. The Chondrin Enigma
02. A Methodical Overture
03. Avenious
04. The Spaying Séance
05. And Carnage Basked In Its Ebullience
06. The Foul Nucleus Of Resurrection
07. Archetype
08. Ingenuity In Genocide
09. Odious Emanation
10. Prolific Murder Contrivance
11. Underneath Rorulent Soil
12. Surprise! You're Dead! [Faith No More cover] [bonus]

Aborted have become a somewhat controversial band by the direction they have seemingly taken. It was clear to everyone on the bands last attempt "The Archaic Abattoir" that the band had swung even more so towards a melodic death metal field which understandably did not please too many of their already existing fans, but also gained the band access to a new audience of fans.

This album is the bands fifth studio album and is again a little different from the previous and this time seem to have taken a few steps forward by taking a few steps back if you see what I mean. The album has taken a few little steps back towards their older days of more aggressive and unrelenting death metal, however this album does at times seem somewhat sporadic and confused. By that I mean at times the album is very fast, very brutal and so very enjoyable - just as one would wish a death metal album to be, but there can still be a number of comparisons made with the direction and bad sides of their last album that just do not seem to fit in here.

An example of this confusion is "Avenious", a track that sounds more melodic death metal and even comparisons to metalcore could possibly be made. The vocals in the first minute of the track are more annoying then anything else as they sound like they would fit perfectly in an In Flames song.
But then in contrast the drum opening of the next track "The Spaying Séance" and parts of the next track "And Carnage Basked In Its Ebullience" are much more aggressive and very enjoyable to listen to, the fine production of the album also greatly enhances these parts. It almost sounds like there could be a brutal death metal band still in there trapped in this death metal/melodic death metal hybrid somewhere but just cannot push hard enough to unleash itself, which seems a big shame to me.

The band has had a considerable amount of line-up changes but I would question if they know themselves which direction they want the band to move. Maybe one way of interpreting this album is they are trying to please too many sets of fans (especially with the shooting of a promo video), but from the viewpoint of someone who prefers more brutal death metal, the melodic death side really does drag the album down.

This album has however left a better impression on me then "The Archaic Abattoir" and is worth taking the time to listen to, just there is no need to make it your absolute top priority.