Oh, Aborted. We share a little in common. When my parents talk about me, Aborted is brought up. It’s usually at the end of a sentence beginning with “you should have been,” but whatever. As for other things we have in common, there aren’t any.

Their new album Vault of Horrors is indeed a new Aborted album. Don’t come after me with pitchforks. Or do. Included in this vault are guest vocalists on every track. Since Sven is versatile, it’s sometimes difficult to tell when one appears. The first official track, “Dreadbringer,” has Ben from Shadow of Intent. The track is a riff tornado. Around the 4-minute mark, when there’s a djenty section, it’s clear Ben is doing the lows here, which sounds excellent. I will point out that the mastering leaves a bit to be desired, which is why sometimes the album just seems to fly by with a lack of dynamics. It’s not too distracting, though.

Further in the track list is “Brotherhood of Sleep,” which features Johnny Ciaradullo of one of my deathcore favorites Angelmaker and Carcosa. Those vicious vocals near two minutes may be him, but I’ve been wrong before. Once, but I’m the only one alive who knows. What’s unexpected is the chaos, and the breakdown following near the end of the track. It’s borderline deathcore and I was hoping they would go somewhere with it, but the track unfortunately ends there.

“Naturom Demonto” is the second to last track, and I want to mention it because of the inclusion of David from Signs of the Swarm. I must seize the opportunity to mention the Pittsburgh scene. It goes for the throat. At around 3 minutes, David and Sven have a tradeoff and both men sound appropriately vile and vicious.

Directly afterwards is “Malevolent Haze” with Ricky Hoover from Ov Sulfur. His band released one of my favorite deathcore albums last year, and I recently was able to meet and briefly chat with him. A swell dude in my opinion. I believe the breakdown in “Brotherhood of Sleep” foreshadowed the huge one around two minutes. Ricky and Sven both get to shine while change is picked up and dicks hit the dirt. Immediately after, however, the track gets somber. Not for long though as it goes back to heaviness. It’s a fitting set up for the build and conclusion of the album.

I must admit in my first draft, I had a different conclusion. Something with this new one wasn’t really clicking. Instead of rushing the review, calling it a day, and moving on with my life, I continued to listen. I only did this because Aborted is a favorite of mine and one day I really hope to meet and take a photo with Sven. I’m getting older and I never fanboyed in my 20s, so as a grown man, I am going to unashamedly do it now. Regardless, some of my conclusions are the same. If you were a fan of the band previously, you’ll enjoy this. If you weren’t, you more than likely won’t. I consider myself in the former category and am glad they’re still putting out scorchers.

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