Album Review: Ossuary - Abhorrent Worship
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Ossuary are a band I’ve been well acquainted with beforehand. I discovered and saw them simultaneously at Killtown Booking’s UK edition of a Deathfest last October in London, and they were amongst my favourite bands of the event. Formed in 2015 out of Wisconsin, United States, the band are a death metal act who have a particular penchant for the dirtier, sludgier vibe and they certainly wear it on their sleeves; they don’t disguise the horror and malice their songwriting reflects. Their early years saw a few Demos released, then they unveiled their 2020 Compilation, Supreme Degradation, bringing those said Demos all under one record. 2023 saw their first EP, Forsaken Offerings, and now slated for a May 23rd release date, Ossuary finally prepare to unleash their debut studio album titled Abhorrent Worship. Some keen eyes have evidently taken notice for Ossuary shall see their new record distributed via Me Saco Un Ojo Records, a prominent label amidst extreme metal. After seeing these guys live already, the news of an incoming record was literal music to my ears. I was very excited to check it out.
If their earlier releases were merely allowing us glimpses into their decrepit, harrowing take on death metal, then this full length sees their morbid nature wrought to eleven. Ossuary take us through hell and back though not at speed; the band don’t exhibit an outright doom persona but there is a somewhat slower tempo utilised here. Their attack is much chunkier and for the most part they keep their tempo under incredible control, for they feel as if they could break out into more ferocious speeds at any moment (which they do periodically herein), yet its evident as they play they’re most comfortable with songwriting that grasps us with iron fists, rendering every punch they throw at us with greater malice than the last. You can tell this by the engorged riffs that come at us though we can seemingly feel the space created between each movement of the guitar work. It therefore leaves us hanging onto the next moment with every passing second as Ossuary play with deeply dense solidity, cementing a firm deliberation to whatever they throw at us. This is where the sludge element comes into play as Ossuary don’t throw away a copious number of notes to bridge riff sequences but ensure every section they play carries purpose towards song progression; their full assembled arsenal bristles with colossal scope. Ossuary don’t play with half-measures in hand. Its devastation or nothing.
I absolutely adore the vocals on record as provided by front woman Izzi Plunkett as she practically spits and vomits up her words with delightful glee for all things putrefying. It really is the ideal vocal approach to such a record, for a differing style wouldn’t have suited Ossuary’s dirtier aspect so well. The band’s songwriting required a vocal delivery that could traverse great distances, considering the vocals aren’t at the complete forefront of the band, but could still embody the band’s nihilistic adoration for depravation; Plunkett’s vocals might as well still be thoroughly coated in spit and acidic bile, less a vocal delivery wrought from the mouth as it has been from the gut. Listening keenly will also reveal the slightly blackened twinge her vocals carry also, for she isn’t reaching down into her inner depths alone but applying a devious snarl that enables her delivery to be a result of her entire body thrown into the effort.
It staggers me, even following their live performance, how Ossuary can construct such soundscapes, such a demonic presence, when they’re just a three-piece. There are bands nearly twice their number who can’t attain this level of immersion and atmospheric ferocity. Many bands will play faster than Ossuary, many will be more crushing through implementing atmospheric elements, but the sheer weight Ossuary bring forth given the comparative absence of tools at their disposal is incredible. The guitar work doesn’t simply lay out their riffs in detail, they sweep away the board, that whole landscape you’ve prepped for them, as the band outright tell you it is not enough for them. Their instrumentation refuses to be contained as guitar, bass and drums equally crash and roar and bellow without restraint, uncontested until they themselves decide we’ve had enough. Look at these drums, they may not undergo blast beats too often but even the smallest strikes from the kit are enough to drive our head into headbanging sprees. Its as if the band are challenging us to undertake Abhorrent Worship however its never so total that it becomes a task to endure their assault; on the contrary you’ll be astonishing as per the intensity of their performance even when we recognise they aren’t moving at the fastest rate. Ossuary extend their sound to the absolute limits the record’s walls can withstand whilst still maintaining an unblemished, silk-smooth polish their production effortlessly upholds.
What surprised me was how the band manage to make these tracks, around six minutes each in length, from ever losing us. Given what we know of their approach to songwriting, Ossuary have done well to keep things morbidly fascinating where we can’t help but tune in to find out where else the band take us. That’s where their slight changes in tempo come into play; Abhorrent Worship feels like a record ever on the brink of nuclear detonation, reaching close proximity is no mean feat alone, so you’re always on edge of what could set off Ossuary’s murderous tendencies. But Ossuary aren’t this trudging, morose band; once the record is done, looking back, you’ll know it ended the way it began, yet owing to the nature of their frenzied bloodlust we’re constantly on edge because it does feel like they could explode at any moment. Their songwriting is also remarkably straightforward; no hidden tricks, no superfluous techniques. This is effectively death/doom before its put under anger management; its absolutely seething and its this atmosphere of boundless despair coupled with rage against life itself that forms their soundscape. Again it astounds me Ossuary are a three-piece for there are bands who mimic carnal slaughter, and there are those who entirely embody it. Ossuary are the latter.
In conclusion, Abhorrent Worship is a record that begs on its knees to be listened to at maximum volume, anything less would be doing the band a disservice, and doing so will thoroughly immerse you with their ceaseless furnace. For a band active for decade only just releasing their first full length record now, Abhorrent Worship is utterly incredible; this is death metal that 2025 needs, it is purified fury funnelled into six tracks, where the reveal of that final near-nine minute track will have you ecstatic with glee knowing how much time the band still have to give you. There is nothing superficial regarding this release, Ossuary do for death metal today as Obituary, Autopsy and other titans of old did in death metal’s formative years; the power of the riff compels thee. But its savage streak isn’t attained through grievous violence alone, their sound is steeped plentiful in grime and bloodied molasses as it sticks, stays, clinging on long after the record ceases. It is a record that implores to be returned to, as the absence of any drug only reminds us of its startling impact. Ossuary are ravenous and ready for war and, if Abhorrent Worship is any unit of measurement, they will be turning heads very quickly. The utterly unbridled and naked strength their riffs bring to us, completely undiluted by anything superficial or unnecessary within their songwriting, delivers one of the most simultaneously raw yet realised demonstrations of death metal at its most hideously refined and wielding cacophonous density, Abhorrent Worship plunges us into nigh-antediluvian horrors where only terror is king. Absolutely Album Of The Year material. Now excuse me, I need to replay this album another dozen times again.
Be the first to comment