review by: Roberto Martinelli

Hell, yes! It's finally here: the new Aborym record. This black metal / industrial / techno hybrid group's last record, Fire Walk with Us (review in issue #8), with its unique take on the genre, genius compositions and inimitable vocals courtesy of Attila Csihar, was one of the best records of 2001. So how does the new record stack up? Well, fans will be pleased to know that for the most part, it's even better.

What's better about it is the production and the density and innovation of the riffs and arrangements, which are getting more technical. There was talk for a while that skinsman extraordinaire Hellhammer was going to do the drums in favor of the drum machine that Aborym has always used, but that plan fell through, and thankfully so, as the drum machine is just as much a part of this band's sound as Csihar's vocals. This brings us to the main complaint about the record.

Certainly Csihar's performance on With no Human Intervention is top notch. You couldn't ask for a better one from an extreme metal vocalist: searing and intense, you marvel at how anyone could possible do this with their throat without ruining it forever within three seconds. But since this is precisely Attila we're dealing with, the same Attila whose trademark vocals on Fire Walk with Us and Mayhem's De Misteriis Dom Sathanas have never been matched, doesn't sound all that much like Attila Csihar on this recording. Csihar has largely dropped that brooding, retarded mumbling and grumbling thing that he does so brilliantly for a delivery that is impressive but vanilla in comparison. The only other thing that can be said at all badly about this record is the overly long sound clip of a woman moaning in ecstasy. I guess I just find stuff like that lame.

With gripes aside, this album is a definite must have. From the gripping opener all the way through the mad songs (with help by guest musicians Nattefrost of Carpathian Forest and Irrumator from Anaal Nathrakh), to the totally great techno and industrial parts, this is one fantastic album, albeit not as great as Fire Walk… I've read one opinion that Aborym usurps Thorns in what they're trying to do. Hell, yes. (8.5/10)