Review: Abnormality “Sociopathic Constructs” [Metal Blade records]

If their first two albums introduced Abnormality to a growing number of admirers, this red hot of a poker follow-up to 2016 release Mechanisms Of Omniscience looks nailed on to extend the reach of the Massachusetts five-piece further still.

Sociopathic Constructs is a febrile lesson in tech death metal butchery, flooring you like a ten-ton truck with the opening winning slamdunk “Monarch Alpha” after which the searing sonic slaughter rarely relents over the following eight tracks.

Abnormality burst through the doors of aural destruction with drummer Jay Blaisdell landing pounding percussive thumps on the likes of “Penance” – featuring guest vocals from Chaney Crabb of Entheos – and “Kakistocracy” with little short of visceral venom provided by the raging riffage from Jeremy Henry.

Blaisdell also pens the lyrics and having built up a little library of new songs since Mechanisms Of Omniscience, Abnormality were keen to serve up this release before the ink was in danger of running dry. There’s no shortage of inspiration for Blaisdell’s observations on some of the more bleak elements of modern day life, while “A Catastrophic and Catalyzing Event” explores some personal theories around 9/11.

Arguably, Abnormality’s greatest asset is Mallika Sundaramurthy who proves that Venom Prison’s Larissa Stupor is certainly not the only female vocalist to sound as though she breakfasts on slabs of concrete with wood shavings sprinkled on top.

Just listen to Mallika’s monstrous menace on the likes of “Transmogrification of the Echborgs,” where she snaps and barks like the last mutt left in the dog home. With the jarring guitar stabs adding increasingly technical twists to the overall destructive soundscape, the singer’s intensity levels at times threaten to reduce your speakers to dust.

While Abnormality’s furious tempo rarely relents, when things are briefly granted a license to breathe, such as on “Dying Breed,” they do so to good affect and without sacrificing any of the edge and raw impact.

Some chainsaw guitar work shreds things up like a jar of marmalade on ‘A Seething Perversion’ before Abnormality roll one final no holds barred grenade across the room for incendiary album closer “Curb Stomp” during which Mallika’s larynx is given the kind of examination that the likes of the Corpsegrinder has had to negotiate down the years.

Abnormality have already shared stage space with such extreme metal masters as Pig Destroyer, Napalm Death and Suffocation. They hit the road again in July, this time touring Europe in a titanic triple-header alongside such like-minded brethren as Gorgasm and Cenotaph on what is being billed as the ‘Aggressive Misanthropy Across Europe’ tour.