ABSCESS — Seminal Vampires and Maggot Men (review)

ABSCESS — Seminal Vampires and Maggot Men album cover Album · 1996 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
UMUR
"Seminal Vampires and Maggot Men" is the debut full-length studio album by US death metal/punk act Abscess. The album was released through Relapse Records in September 1996. While "Seminal Vampires and Maggot Men" is the band´s official debut album, they already released the demo compilation album "Urine Junkies" in August 1995. Abscess more or less began as a side-project for some of the members of Autopsy, but as it became clear that Autopsy would disband, Abscess became their priority. On "Seminal Vampires and Maggot Men" the lineup consists of Chris Reifert (Vocals, Drums), Danny Coralles (Guitar), Frank Migliore (Bass) and Clint Bower (Vocals, Guitar). The three former had all been part of the last incarnation of Autopsy before the split-up and the latter came from a longer stint with Hexx.

"Seminal Vampires and Maggot Men" was recorded and mixed in 24 hours in May 1996, and the 18 tracks on the 32:06 minutes long album sounds just as rough and lo-fi produced as you could imagine considering the recording method. This is filthy and rather depraved punked death metal packed in a raw, noisy, and murky sound production. I´m not sure how many takes each track got or if there are any overdubs, but this sounds pretty close to being recorded live in the studio. If you think "Shitfun (1995)" by Autopsy was a filthy punky death metal release, just wait until you hear this one. The tracks are generally very simple, fast-paced, and aggressive featuring sloppy organic playing and insane snarling vocals and occasional growling. At times this is more an aggressive and filthy punk album than a filthy punked death metal ditto, but Abscess do occassionally take the pace down to a death/doomy sludge.

Song titles like "Naked Freak Show", "Freak Fuck Fest (Naked Freak Show II: Orgy of the Gaffed)", "I Don't Give a Fuck" and "The Scent of Shit", should provide you with a picture of the B-horror movie/zombie/sexually depraved lyrics contained within this package. Which of course is no surprise considering these guys past.

So "Seminal Vampires and Maggot Men" more or less succeed in what it sets out to do, which is deliver filthy punked death metal to the masses. What it neglects to do is to feature variation in the material. The few more death/doom oriented tracks provide the album with some diversity, but there are generally not many tracks on the album that stand out. Way too many of these tracks are over before you notice it, they sound too much the same, and they leave little impact other than the feeling that you´ve been defiled and stomped upon (which in this case is actually a great feeling). For greater lasting impact the tracks could have been more memorable. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.
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