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Nine minutes of solid Grind from two of the style's best.-
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| Abaddon Incarnate / Phobia: Split |
Black Metal, Death Metal, Grindcore
Underground Movement
February 15th, 2011
Abaddon Incarnate:
- Cthonic Sacrifice - 2:03
- Vermin Apocalypse - 1:46
- Crucible - 1:58
Phobia:
- Devastation - n/a
- Riot Nation - n/a
- Human Observation - n/a
- Walk Alone - n/a
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| Review Information |
Release length: 9:19
Review posted on June 4th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 9.5/10 |
 
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Abaddon Incarnate |
| Full-Length(s): |
The Last Supper (1999) • Nadir (2001) • Dark Crusade (2004) • Cascade (2009)
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| Split(s): |
Abaddon Incarnate/Phobia (2011)
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| Demo(s): |
When the Demons Come (1995) • 2-track Sampler (1996) • 3 Track Sampler 2001 (2001)
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| Phobia |
| Full-Length(s): |
Means of Existence (1998) • Serentiy Through Pain (2001) • Grind Your Fucking Head In (2003) • Curel (2006)
22 Random Acts of Violence (2008)
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| EP(s): |
All that Remains (1992) • Return to Desolation (1993) • Enslaved (1997) • Destroying the Masses (1999) • Get Up and Kill! (2004)
Unrelenting (2010)
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| Split(s): |
Plutocracy/Phobia (1994) • Corrupted/Phobia (1998) • Phobia/Resist and Exist (2002) • Relapse Singles Series Vol. 4 (2004)
Another Four Years of Murder (2006) • Human EP (2009) • Fearing the Dissolve of Humanity (2010) • Gadget/Phobia (2010)
Abaddon Incarnate/Phobia (2011)
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| Demo(s): |
What Went Wrong (1990)
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| Review |
Underground Movement has brought two of the most prominant acts in the Grindcore scene together for one split release. Abaddon Incarnate, a more underground band that brings in some Black and Death Metal concepts to the style team up with the more well known Grindcore act Phobia for a little more then nine minutes of brutal grinding. But, do these four tracks really hammer away at the listener to make it a worthy purchase for anyone outside the die hard fans of the bands or style?
The first three tracks contributed to this split belong to Abaddon Incarnate, and it's easily some of the most ruthless and brutal Grindcore one can find on a split release. The band's main focus seems to be the inclusion of Death Metal over that established Grindcore foundation, but there's a bit of a Black Metal presence in the background rhaspier vocals. "Vermin Apocalypse" is one of the stronger tracks, having that two-step drum presence that works with some of the slightly groove pushed blistering Death Metal presence. This song, as well as the other two have their own unique sound and don't really come off as another carbon copy of some of the pioneers of the style, though it's clear they sometimes have an influence from. While "Cthonic Sacrifice" and "Vermin Apocalypse" are both intense and just hammer away at the listener, though the latter has that slight groove to it with some heavier Death Metal chords, the track "Crucible" actually brings in some more technical music that the other two don't quite have, though it often fades to pounding blast beats and Death Metal passages similar to "Vermin Apocalypse". This isn't a bad thing at all, though the technical approach really helped to make the music sound a little more unique from the other tracks.
The last element of this split is actually more then one track, but it's all lumped together as one song by Phobia [which remains untitled as it was not included in the promo, and I have no received a responser about it from the PR company, nor can I find it on-line anywhere]. First of all, the audio is dramatically different from the Abaddon Incarnate songs, having a lower volume in comparison, as well as not quite as rich. The guitars are a little lost in the background thanks to the drums, but everything else sounds pretty good. This doesn't hurt the overall quality of the recording though, as these songs still pack a decent amount of aggression to them. With four tracks all clumped together in a three and a half minute time span, it's obvious much of the material is just blistering Grindcore with plenty of blast beats, but enough variation in the music to make all four tracks stand out, but remain punishing and aggressiver.
While there are some really obvious differences between the two styles, such as the dramatically different recording qualities between rich and brutal tracks from Abaddon Incarnate, and more raw and generally chaotic songs from Phobia. But, the final product for a split release of a little more then nine minutes long is just right. These two bands pull together strong performances that really highlight what each band can bring to the table, and newcomers to these bands will find the music engaging from start to finish, and leave the listener wanting to experience more or go out and discover some of the group's other releases thanks to this little teasing taste from Underground Movement.
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