Shoving a dirtied, well-placed syringe straight through the heart of expectation, ABORTED further remove themselves from the Carcass homage of old on their sixth release Strychnine.213 . While most bands are content releasing the same record every other year, this international collective prefers to strike a rare balance between maturity and experimentation, honoring a legacy of brutal death metal and grindcore while progressing toward something slightly less classifiable. It is precisely that ambition that has made ABORTED a household name in extreme metal. Combining the band's undeniable live energy with a powerhouse production from Eric Rachel (The Red Chord, The Black Dahlia Murder, God Forbid etc.) and a "fuck you' rock'n roll" approach to the overly edited, sterile sounding death metal records of today, ABORTED succeed in retaining their vicious roots while evolving in terms of melody, musical virtuosity and vigor. Taking the album's lyrical concept of true crime, serial killer topics quite literally, Colin Marks' frighteningly realistic and brutal artwork for "Strychnine.213" reinforces the notion that ABORTED have doubtlessly developed into extreme metal's most promising new breed. While most extreme bands depend on harsh imagery and gruesome subject matter to obtain some sort of shock value, ABORTED relies more on their musicianship to make jaws drop. Far more sophisticated than your average grind outfit, the band has been refining their carnal artistry for the past decade and 'Strychnine.213' is just the proof of that.