With No Human Intervention

Album review

"Aborym plays alien-black-hard/industrial exclusively" reads the CD booklet accompanying With No Human Intervention -- an unwieldy tag that's an awkward and strangely appropriate description of the twisted, mechanical black metal contained therein. In other words, the Italian mad-metal scientists, boasting legendary Hungarian vocalist Attila Csihar (see also: Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas), continue the avant-garde approach rendered, melted, and smelted on two previous albums: the necro aesthetics of Norwegian-style black metal soaked in digital noise and sent barreling chaotically down the track, programmed electronic drums a-blazing. Arrangements seem haphazard by design, peppered with jarring rhythmic transitions, near-ambient ultra-distorted guitar riffs, and Csihar's bilge-gargling gurgles and tortured shrieks, with the occasional classical harpsichord interlude ("Digital Coat Masque"), spooky carnival organ ("The Triumph"), or disturbing sample. Not all of the freakazoid experiments here are successful ("Chernobyl Generation" could be a Satanic remix of the Knight Rider TV theme), but the criminally disturbed asylum vibe makes With No Human Intervention -- which also boasts notable writing contributions from ex-felon/Emperor bassist Bård "Faust" Eithun and lead Carpathian Forest belcher Nattefrost -- a fascinating mess, even if the lush CD packaging is almost more compelling, loaded with hellish H.R. Giger-esque sculptures, blasphemous pseudo-Satanic imagery, and shots of the bandmembers decked out in Day-Glo face paint. Bottom line, Aborym is easier to enjoy in theory more than in practice, although tackling the group's wildly disturbing sonic art isn't without its rewards.
© John Serba /TiVo