Aborym — Shifting.Negative

Aborym is an industrial/experimental metal band formed in Taranto (Italy) in 1992 and based in Rome. Since its genesis, founder & frontman Fabban has always played the first fiddle, while rest of the line-up went through several transformations. The band's early albums are considered as milestones of the industrial metal genre while Aborym itself established its position as a forward thinking industrial band that never stood still. Industrial/electronic metal plagued and combined with rock, alternative, noise, IDM and electro-harsh music. Heavy use of synthesizers, modular programming, custom modular machines and experimental noise…..

So if you like Nine inch Nails, Front Line Assembly, Ministry and almost anything off Roadrunner, Aborym are your bag..….well no, things aren’t quite that simple. Don’t get me wrong, Shifting.Negative does have elements of all of these, but within this ten track album these elements are mixed with some gorgeous arrangements and some stunning songs with more hooks than you’d find at an angling convention. However, the heavy presence of all those elements does mean you find yourself name-checking bands in each song and that’s this albums downfall.

This album begins with “Unpleasantness”...a heavy synth based track that does, initially, smack of “Starfuckers” by NiN. Not a bad thing, but thankfully it becomes very apparent there’s more to this track than a join the dots NiN tribute. The chorused vocals and screeching guitar are beautiful.

“Precarious” is a dark and brooding track, with sparse keyboards over a slow pulsating bass rhythm and sweat-laden vocals. But this is beautiful piece of music has the influence of NiN is every present, even down to the vocals that take over halfway through the track.

“For A Better Past” begins with a keyboard and low whining theramin before the distorted guitar and samples become present and then the drums and pulsating bass start and we’ve moved on from the theme tune to “7even” and hit Ministry land before we return to NiN style vocal rises and falls.

So given that you like Nine inch Nails, et al. and almost anything off Roadrunner, Aborym are probably your bag…...no, things are even simpler than that. Just listen to those bands. Aborym, I had hoped, would be so more than this. I know in a genre with so many heavy-weight acts it’s hard to get away from their influence, but I would have expected those influences to have been worn a lot less obviously.