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.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

OPETH`S Epic Headline Show at Bloodstock 2024 | YouTube Premiere | Full Set | August 9th, 2024
OPETH
666sharon666· 40 minutes ago
Opeth '§4' Visualizer/Lyrics Video
OPETH
666sharon666· 40 minutes ago
Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed