Review by Norbert on January 4, 2026.

During the release party for the debut full-length album by this Warsaw-based band, vocalist Młynar teasingly blurted from the stage, "Hi, we're Abominated, and we play Swedish heavy metal," which sparked a flurry of jokes and comments. What kind of heavy metal is that? There were a few bands in Poland that, with varying degrees of success, tried to practice Swedish-style death metal in our hometown—with a distinctive sound generated by the Boss HM2 guitar pedal, punk d-beats, sometimes chaotic, more often heart-wrenching, skull-twisting riffs, heavily inspired by genre classics like Nihilist, Entombed, Grave, Dismember, Unleashed, etc. Now the guys from Abominated are doing it.

And they do it brilliantly, as evidenced by the release of Traumatic Putrefaction, released by Godz Ov War in collaboration with Behind The Mountain Records (vinyl and CD) and Destruktion Records (cassette). And although a considerable amount of time has passed since that album's release (the feathers of many a death metal maniac have already thinned somewhat during their occasional headbanging), I still enjoy revisiting this material from time to time. On my next return, I decided to write a little.

This half-hour miasma of death metal is a journey into territory where the genre's rather conventional lyrical carnage (Lovecraftian stories, serial killers, blood and violence) meets equally conventional sounds rooted in old-school death metal. There's no room for artistic exploration or trend-setting. No, that's not what the guys in Abominated are after. It doesn't matter that we've heard all these riffs before – they're good, very good, catchy, memorable, and, in their own death metal way, rocking. True live bangers! The songs aren't monotonous – the right dynamics and tempo changes are maintained, the vocals spew out scraps of poetry in keeping with the genre's finest standards, while the morbid vibrations and dark atmosphere are utterly absorbing. The Warsaw band deftly combines melody with death metal's miasma, heaviness, and groove. It's true, they apparently studied at music universities in Stockholm and Gothenburg, but they probably also heard the names Asphyx and Obituary. There's little innovation here, but plenty of passion and true death metal emotion.

Every time I put on Traumatic Putrefaction, I get goosebumps, and my head bobs rhythmically to the beat of each track. This terrifyingly unoriginal and captivatingly awesome album tastes like the finest alcohol. Cheers! Besides, just look at the cover. The essence of death metal awesomeness.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Michael on February 12, 2025.

Ah well, these were good old times when you could buy an album only because of its cover. I remember back in the 90s when stuff like "The End Complete", "Clandestine" or the super underrated "Dehumanizer" came out. Cover? Check! Music is probably great, too.

With the Polish band Abominated it is the same. I saw the cover and instantly asked for the album (thanks again for sending me and I'm really sorry for that delay in reviewing it!!). The really morbid cover is so early 90s – a fantastic job by Juanjo Castellano. There are so many similarities to the early classics by Dan Seagrave, alone this artwork is really worth mentioning.

But we are here mainly to talk about the music, I almost forgot. On Traumatic Putrefaction which is the debut album by the quintet from Warsaw you can find some pure, brutal old school death metal. Of course (and I guess that this will never ever happen again) they don't reinvent the death metal wheel but what they do here quite well is to combine some different country styles but like on most debuts, there is still some space for improvement.

While the opener "Forbidden Pleasures Of Self-Immolation (Opus Magnum .44)" is more or less some worship to the Swedish classics (preluded by a quite atmospheric intro that reminds me of some old Revel In Flesh), there are also some more brutal death metal vibes to find that are heavily inspired by bands like Immolation or Cannibal Corpse ("Stench Of Life"). Here and there are some really sick soli to fine like in "Sacrificial Defilement" or the title track which sometimes remind of good old fucking Slayer.

Entertaining and making the music a little bit more lighter and diverse are the catchier, groovy parts when the guys don't mutilate the listener but cause some blunt force trauma with a baseball bat. "Senseless Barbaric Insemination" (hell yeah, what a title!) starts with some creeping drumming but gets lost after one minute in some more brutal death metal not unlike a stinking bastard between first Dismember and old Cannibal Corpse and also the galloping part in "Blasphemous Convocation" is cool. The closer "Slave To Depravity" might be the catchiest one on the album which the band also could sell a lost Dismember track.

Talking about the instruments, the drums are pummeling relentlessly on the nine tracks as if there was no tomorrow (hats off to Ordynathor, their drummer), the guitars are buzzsawing like hell and vocalist Greg (the one or the other might know him from his other band Martyrdoom) is grunting and wheezing like hell. You can clearly hear that these guys know how to work with their instruments.

Technically they don't have to hide behind the bigger names I already dropped. Also the sound on Traumatic Putrefaction is really good; here Pawel Sota has done a really great job. But what in my humble opinion is sometimes missing is the red line in the compositions. Neither they are bad nor boring, but in some cases it sounds a little bit too chaotic. Their approach is absolutely comprehendible but sometimes a little bit less is a little bit more if you know what I mean. I guess if they had put some more catchy parts into the songs, they would keep in mind much easier. It is a really solid death metal album performed by skilled musicians but there are some nuances that are still lacking to play in the death metal Champions League.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10