Abramelin (band)
Encyclopedia
Abramelin was an Australian death metal
band, notable as one of the first bands of its kind in the country and one of the main influences on the development of Australian heavy metal
music in the early 1990s. Members of this band have also featured in Blood Duster
, The Berzerker
, and Akercocke
.
ist David Abbott. Simon Dower (vocals), Jason Black (guitar), Derek Ackary (bass
) and Michael Colton (drums
) comprised the rest of the group. Tim Aldridge replaced Black and the band recorded a demo called "Eternal Suffering" before Jason Dutton and Justin Wornes took the places of Colton and Ackary. French
label Corpsegrinder Records released the EP "Deprived of Afterlife" in 1991 and a track from this release later appeared on the Dutch compilation album Appointment With Fear. Following the release of the EP, Dutton left Acheron. His replacements was Craig Bailey. 1992 saw David Abott depart Acheron. He was replaced for a short time by Jason Kells (member of Australian doom band diSEMBOWELMENT
) who, after a short period was replaced by bass player for the similarly aligned Necrotomy, Mark Schuliga. 1992 to 1994 saw Acheron tour with Carcass
and support Morbid Angel
and Pungent Stench
. Bailey left in 1994 to be replaced on by Euan Heriot.
Almost immediately, the band discovered a conflict of interest in the name Acheron with an American
black metal
band. Inspired by Abramelin the Mage, a 14th century alchemist
, the group took its new name.
, issued the album Abramelin in 1995 but the CD was withdrawn from sale in Western Australia
due to explicit lyrics dealing with sexual violence against children and necrophilia
. Rob Mollica, the drummer with a Melbourne death metal band called Earth, joined Abramelin at this time as a guitarist but Heriot soon departed to uphold commitments with two other bands he was also playing drums for, Blood Duster
and Fracture. Ex-Blood Duster drummer Matt Rizzo took his place in Abramelin for a brief time but after the break-up of Damaged
he too was replaced by Matt Sanders.
Late in 1997, Abramelin featured at Metal for the Brain
before beginning work on another album. Meanwhile, Spanish
label Repulse Records picked up the debut for wider release but gave it almost no support. Abramelin was re-released in Australia with Transgression From Acheron included, and this time without a lyric sheet in the packaging to avoid it being banned for a second time.
After this Abramelin was dormant as a live band. The second album Deadspeak was gradually recorded, originally with drums by Sanders although these were later re-recorded using a drum machine. Released in 2000 on Shock, Deadspeak featured only Dower on vocals and Aldridge performing all the music. With the live line-up of Dower, Aldridge, Rizzo, Matt Wilcock (guitar) and Grant Karajic (bass), Abramelin supported Cradle of Filth
and again played at Metal for the Brain. Following this, however, the band disappeared once more. Further recording was rumoured but nothing has emerged. Wilcock moved on to Steel Affliction and The Berzerker
, and is now with British black/death metal band Akercocke; Rizzo is again a member of Blood Duster.
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
band, notable as one of the first bands of its kind in the country and one of the main influences on the development of Australian heavy metal
Australian heavy metal
Australian heavy metal music has its roots in both the Australian hard rock and pub rock tradition of the 1970s and the American and British heavy metal scenes. Since the mid-80s, Australian heavy metal has been particularly influenced by foreign bands, particularly Swedish death metal, American...
music in the early 1990s. Members of this band have also featured in Blood Duster
Blood Duster
Blood Duster is a extreme metal/stoner rock band from Melbourne, Australia. Their name comes from the song "Blood Duster" by John Zorn, from the 1989 album Naked City.-History:...
, The Berzerker
The Berzerker
The Berzerker was an extreme metal band from Melbourne, Australia and was formed in 1995. The band's music, heavily influenced by older death metal and grindcore, can be characterized as a fusion of these with speedcore, and gabber...
, and Akercocke
Akercocke
Akercocke is an English progressive blackened death metal band from London, England. They take their name from a talking monkey in Robert Nye's interpretation of the Faust-legend, and are notable for their heavily Satanic and sexual lyrical content....
.
Acheron
Abramelin was formed in Melbourne in 1988 under the name Acheron by guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist David Abbott. Simon Dower (vocals), Jason Black (guitar), Derek Ackary (bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) and Michael Colton (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
) comprised the rest of the group. Tim Aldridge replaced Black and the band recorded a demo called "Eternal Suffering" before Jason Dutton and Justin Wornes took the places of Colton and Ackary. French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
label Corpsegrinder Records released the EP "Deprived of Afterlife" in 1991 and a track from this release later appeared on the Dutch compilation album Appointment With Fear. Following the release of the EP, Dutton left Acheron. His replacements was Craig Bailey. 1992 saw David Abott depart Acheron. He was replaced for a short time by Jason Kells (member of Australian doom band diSEMBOWELMENT
Disembowelment (band)
Disembowelment is a Australian death/doom band from Melbourne, Australia that was formed in November 1989 out of the ashes of two-piece grind band Bacteria, featuring drummer Paul Mazziotta and guitarist/vocalist Renato Gallina...
) who, after a short period was replaced by bass player for the similarly aligned Necrotomy, Mark Schuliga. 1992 to 1994 saw Acheron tour with Carcass
Carcass (band)
Carcass are an extreme metal band from England, who formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1995. A reunion was enacted in 2008 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons....
and support Morbid Angel
Morbid Angel
Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida. UK music magazine Terrorizer ranked one Morbid Angel album in its “Top 40 greatest death metal albums”, with their 1989 debut Altars of Madness appearing at number 1...
and Pungent Stench
Pungent Stench
Pungent Stench was a darkly humorous death metal band from Vienna, Austria, which formed in 1988. Their last known lineup consists of Martin Schirenc , El Gore , and Alex Wank...
. Bailey left in 1994 to be replaced on by Euan Heriot.
Almost immediately, the band discovered a conflict of interest in the name Acheron with an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
band. Inspired by Abramelin the Mage, a 14th century alchemist
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, the group took its new name.
Abramelin
The first release under the name Abramelin was the EP Transgression from Acheron, after which Schuliga departed. Thrust Records, a subsidiary of Australian label Shock RecordsShock Records
Shock Records is Australia's largest independent record label. It helps distribute records from overseas records labels such as Epitaph Records, and also for small record labels designed specifically for that band such as Cement Records...
, issued the album Abramelin in 1995 but the CD was withdrawn from sale in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
due to explicit lyrics dealing with sexual violence against children and necrophilia
Necrophilia
Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia or necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses,It is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The word is artificially derived from the ancient Greek words: νεκρός and φιλία...
. Rob Mollica, the drummer with a Melbourne death metal band called Earth, joined Abramelin at this time as a guitarist but Heriot soon departed to uphold commitments with two other bands he was also playing drums for, Blood Duster
Blood Duster
Blood Duster is a extreme metal/stoner rock band from Melbourne, Australia. Their name comes from the song "Blood Duster" by John Zorn, from the 1989 album Naked City.-History:...
and Fracture. Ex-Blood Duster drummer Matt Rizzo took his place in Abramelin for a brief time but after the break-up of Damaged
Damaged (band)
Damaged was an Australian deathgrind band from Ballarat in Victoria, Australia, active from 1989 to 2004.-History:The band was formed by drummer Matt "Skitz" Sanders...
he too was replaced by Matt Sanders.
Late in 1997, Abramelin featured at Metal for the Brain
Metal for the Brain
Metal for the Brain was Australia's largest heavy metal music festival. The event was held in Canberra annually, usually towards the end of the year, and featured Australian bands almost exclusively...
before beginning work on another album. Meanwhile, Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
label Repulse Records picked up the debut for wider release but gave it almost no support. Abramelin was re-released in Australia with Transgression From Acheron included, and this time without a lyric sheet in the packaging to avoid it being banned for a second time.
After this Abramelin was dormant as a live band. The second album Deadspeak was gradually recorded, originally with drums by Sanders although these were later re-recorded using a drum machine. Released in 2000 on Shock, Deadspeak featured only Dower on vocals and Aldridge performing all the music. With the live line-up of Dower, Aldridge, Rizzo, Matt Wilcock (guitar) and Grant Karajic (bass), Abramelin supported Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band, formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal, and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily...
and again played at Metal for the Brain. Following this, however, the band disappeared once more. Further recording was rumoured but nothing has emerged. Wilcock moved on to Steel Affliction and The Berzerker
The Berzerker
The Berzerker was an extreme metal band from Melbourne, Australia and was formed in 1995. The band's music, heavily influenced by older death metal and grindcore, can be characterized as a fusion of these with speedcore, and gabber...
, and is now with British black/death metal band Akercocke; Rizzo is again a member of Blood Duster.
Discography
- Deprived of Afterlife (EP, 1991)
- Transgression from Acheron (EP, 1994)
- Abramelin (album, 1995)
- Deadspeak (album, 2000)