Aborted invites the public to a brutal and potentially maddening experience in ManiaCult , the eleventh studio album by the Belgian band, which will be released this Friday, September 10th, by Century Media Records.
The story follows a deranged cult, narrating the human sacrifices required to summon Lovecraftian demons. The leader of this sinister cult is Wayland Thurston , taken directly from the stories of H.P. Lovecraft , possessed by a worm that has taken up residence in his back.
In an interview with Wikimetal about the new project, vocalist Sven de Caluwé discussed the inspirations for the new album, stereotypes created about death metal, and the band's current phase.
The band went through some adjustments in the last year: guitarist Mendel bij de Leij left the group in 2019 after seven years with the band. The group called on Harrison Patuto for the tour they were going to do last year, but with the cancellation of the plans, they decided to continue as a quartet: Ken Bedene (drums), Ian Jekelis (guitar) and Stefano Franceschini (bass).
This lineup was responsible for La Grande Masquerade , an EP released in 2020, and now Aborted has recorded their first album with this dynamic. “We just got rid of someone, so it’s the same people from the last album. To be honest, not much has changed; we made this change because some things weren’t happening. The guy wasn’t contributing anything; we did all the work just the four of us. We did everything like that, so it was pretty normal for us,” explained the vocalist.
With members in different countries, the band is used to working remotely, but the pandemic brought further challenges, including canceled shows and individual recording without in-person rehearsals. “I’m excited for everything to go back to normal and to do shows again someday, you know? That would be great. When we do our next show, it will have been two years since I last saw the band members,” he confided.
Aborted's routine underwent some changes during this period, with regular video calls "to see how everyone was doing" and to begin composing the album. "You have two options: get depressed and shit yourself or overcome it, we chose the second option," he continued. "Generally, we all meet and spend a month in the studio recording. It was good and bad at the same time, but everything worked out and we are very happy with the result.".
In the subtext of the nauseating events described in the tracks, ManiaCult also addresses more political themes – but Caluwé is quick to reject that term. “Political, no!”, he interrupts abruptly. Despite the denials, the album touches on current political and social issues, even if it's not partisan: the nefarious plot raises debates about mental health, polarization, fake news networks, and the Church's control over the masses. Aren't these also politicized themes?
“I wouldn’t say they’re so political; the main theme is about mental health, all the crazy stuff that’s been happening in recent years. It’s about my perspective while watching all of this and questioning myself: ‘How is this possible?’”, reflects the band leader. “I’m not choosing any position from a political point of view, especially because I’m not here to preach anything or divide people, but what bothers me most throughout the album is that we are very polarized as a society and it has become impossible to simply have a discussion, disagree, and still maintain friendship [when it comes to] politics or religion. It seems like we keep a loaded gun [all the time], it can’t just be an exchange of ideas without a fight. They are extremes and I think that’s a problem.”.
Current messages are reflected in the project's visuals. In the lyric video for "ManiaCult," all these themes are translated into bizarre and disturbing headlines about current events, while the music video for "Impetus Odi" presents a literal and bloody representation of the controlling power of religious institutions in society.
In tracks like “Drag Me to Hell,” for example, broader interpretations don't really make sense: as the name itself suggests, it's simply a song based on the plot of the film Drag Me to Hell (2009), directed by Sam Raimi , a film that Sven recommends. “You need to keep in mind that everything is designed to be artificial, exaggerated, and silly. So much crap happens in that movie, it's hilarious! The amount of idiotic things that happen to that girl… You should give the movie a chance,” he replied.
ManiaCult has the ideal soundtrack for the ominous events narrated in the lyrics, but it also matches the dark times around the world. With impressive vocals from Sven, exploring the highest registers and the impressive technique of guttural vocals – sometimes to the point of not even sounding human – the album is brutal and dark without losing its hypnotic melodies.
Throughout the 11 tracks, the band delves into new levels of brutality, opening the gates to the realm of madness in both lyrics and sound, but with the lucidity of professionals with technical excellence and great knowledge within the genre.
To promote ManiaCult , the group devised a completely different strategy: Wayland Thurston, the persona who leads the evil cult in the album's narrative and also serves as a metaphor for mental health issues, was transformed into an exclusive collectible Aborted doll. With a social media filter, the character comes to life beyond the album cover and music videos. The official merchandise for the new album also includes shorts, t-shirts, and vinyl records, all available for pre-order .
With 26 years in the business, the band manages to balance the elements already established in their discography while continuing to innovate. “We ask ourselves this every time we start writing a new album: 'What do we want to do? Do we want to be more extreme? Do we want to try new things? If so, which ones?' This is always under discussion before we begin,” says the singer. “Depending on the idea we have, it emerges along the way. In this album, we wanted to continue building on the darkness of Retrogore (2016) and TerrorVision (2019), adding more black metal elements and trying to combine them in a more dynamic way to create the most interesting album we could. Dynamics and variation are key, and we tried to include that as well.”
As the only original member of the band, founded in 1995, Sven de Caluwé is well aware of the stereotypes surrounding death metal and the violent, bloody themes of the band's lyrics and visuals. “It’s harder when you’re in front of an audience; you have to be more careful depending on where you are because, even if you’re joking around, there’s always a chance someone will get angry,” he reflected. “But I think, ‘You know what? People know who I am, they know my character; if they’re at an Aborted show, I’ll be myself.’”.
According to the vocalist, the negative reactions are nothing more than a "misunderstanding" of the nature of extreme music bands' work. "We're joking about horrible stuff, none of this is serious. If you go to a death metal show and think anyone there is serious, sorry, you have a problem. For some reason, people think we're all serial killers," he said with a laugh.
During an interview in Poland, during Aborted's first tour, the band was asked what they kept in their home freezer. “I don’t know, man, food?” Sven replied to the interviewer. “The guy was really disappointed that I didn’t say I had corpses and decapitated heads and, I don’t know, shredded penises. You could see on his face how disappointed he was. People really think we cut ourselves up and sacrifice virgins, those are the most idiotic and outrageous things.”.
Aborted –
ManiaCult 1. Verderf
2. ManiaCult
3. Impetus Odi
4. Portal to Vacuity
5. Dementophobia
6. A Vulgar Quagmire
7. Verbolgen
8. Ceremonial Ineptitude
9. Drag me to Hell
10. Grotesque
11. I Prediletti: The Folly of the Gods