Band:	Abysmal Torment
Album:	Epoch Of Methodic Carnage
Style:	Brutal death metal
Release date:	February 28, 2006
Guest review by:	Ankit

01. Relapse Into Sickness
02. Addicted To Smothered Throats
03. Flayed, Dismembered And Feasted Upon
04. Wretched Stagnant Blood
05. Befouled With Zest
06. Epoch Of Methodic Carnage
07. Death Bound Conundrum
08. Lurid Iniquity
09. Battered Into Nothingness
10. Gratification Through Castration

"Epoch of Methodic Carnage" is the first full length album released by Maltese sickheads Abysmal Torment and it's a fine display of skilled and original musicianship. This CD contains 42 minutes of uncompromising butchery and mayhem which never ceases to fade away. Each and every guy in this band is proficiently skilled in his particular department. The guitar work is pretty technical in nature with nice groovy/slam parts. However, the slam parts or breakdowns aren't exactly the ''chugging'' ultra breakdowns which are present in bands like Devourment, Cephalotripsy or Abominable Putridity. What i found refreshing was the presence of bass on this record which is generally absent from a majority of brutal death metal releases.

Interestingly, there are two vocalists in the band but it's difficult to differentiate between both of them as they sound pretty alike. The vocals are the typical gurgled, low gutturals and they have been nicely executed in the mix. It would have been better if the vocalists added some shrieks along with the gutturals but still it's a fairly standard vocal performance by the duo.

Perhaps, The biggest highlight of this album is the astonishing drum work of Wayne Vella. Boy! This guy must be a machine! He has unleashed a catastrophic assault on the ears of the listener through his constant blast beats and double bass work. There is also some nice cymbal work in the album and it fairly compliments the lightening quick hyper blasts. In my opinion, he is definitely one of the most talented drummers to have emerged in the past few years.

The reason why I am giving this release just 8.5 after so much praise is the muffled production. That's the only flaw present here according to me. I don't say that it should have been too much polished and crystal clear but I am annoyed because It doesn't really compliment the hard work done by the musicians in this album.

At the end, i would say that these guys have been able to create a fairly original sound which is a very good thing in today's scene where a majority of new bands just insist on being ''rip-offs'' of other bands. Highly recommended for BDM and Goregrind fanatics!