ABACABB – Survivalist
Sumerian Records

Rating:  

If the word ABACABB looks familiar to you, you most likely were a fan of the game Mortal Combat. A-B-A-C-A-B-B allowed you to  turn on “blood mode”. The band ABACABB, delivers their newest album, Survivalist, with crushing force that promises to also get your blood flowing.

Maybe I’m showing my age here, but I remember when you wernt cool unless you had some sound clips buried in your album. The first track of this album “introduction” really isnt a musical track, its just a creepy audio clip used to set the tone of the album. It works.

Track 2, Infection, was my first real taste of the band. First thing that grabbed me we the mid tempo guitar chugging and guteral vocals. The song eventally picks up and the sing along of “get fucked”, livens this song up. It’s not a bad song, it just didn’t really grab me.

Track 3, Addiction, is way more brutal then track 2, but the blast beats drumming seemed a bit odd to me, a bit to mechanical. This song sets a dark tone, and the big breakdowns really fit the vocals. Still, this track is kind of what ever to me. I’m sure kids at a show would eat up the super slow break downs and the 2-step parts of this tune. I’ll pass.

At track 5, halfway through the album, the title track of the album, “Survivalist” starts with an audio clip, into the sound of a freight train passing by, immediately into one of the best break down I have heard so far this year. Listening to unfold was a total “WTF just happened” moment for me. The start of this song will knock your dick in the dirt and the rest of the track will kick your teeth in. It’s almost like ABACABB decided to stop messing around and get serious. The emotion of the album completely changes at the half way mark. Way more agressive, way more pissed off. This is what I was hoping for from the start. Seriously good stuff.

ABACABB continues to carve a path of sweet destruction up to the last track on the album before they decide to get weird.

Track 10 is 10 minutes long and completely instrumental. Think of the band pelican but not as good, and with a lot of ringing out. For what its worth, this is a filler track for the most part.

Over all, out of 10 tracks, 1 and 10 aren’t really songs, so that leaves us 8 tracks to really judge. Of those 8 tracks, the first 3 are ok, but the next 5 shred. Overall I give this album 7.5 out of 10. The score would have been higher if the first few tracks were more aggressive, like the songs in the middle of the album were.

Obviously my favorite track is number 5, “Survivalist”. I dare you to listen to it and not be impressed.

I do suggest that you check this album out. There is a lot of band out right now that are trying to play this type of music, but few do it well. ABACABB is one of the bands that are doing a good job with this type of music. If you are a fan of The Acacia Strain, you will be into ABACABB.