Australian death metal legends Abramelin have been high on my listening rotation since their first release Transgression From Acheron thirty years ago. Like a lot of Aussie bands from back in that era, there was without question something unique and typically Australian about them. Bringing their own brand of extremity to our eager ears alongside the perfect noise bearers – Damaged, Sadistik Execution, Naxzul, Alchemist, Dreadnaught and Acheron (now Abramelin) plus so many more!
Whilst few from back in the early nineties remain to this day, Abramelin did enter a hiatus, one from which they were never convinced they would recover from. Thankfully, thanks to their now bass player Robb “Wog” encouraging Simon & Tim to breathe new life back into them in 2017 for the now legendary Metal For Melbourne charity gig at The Corner Hotel, we have been witness to many an incredible and two near perfect reincarnations of Abramelin.
HEAVY spoke to Simon (Dower, vocals) and Tim (Aldridge, guitars) for their last album Never Enough Snuff and now, in 2024 with the release of their brilliant new album Sins Of The Father imminent, I had the pleasure of dragging out much intellect and gore filled wonder from Matt (Wilcock, guitars) and Simon.
First off, I reflected on my almost thirty years of friendship with Simon to begin, telling him how some of my formative, earliest and fondest memories of being a metal journalist were how heavily he was integrated in it, through his music, shared experiences (however horrific) and friendship. I asked him to share what it was that made him the man he is today and how it crafted what was to become the frontman and vocalist we hear.
“It’s a whole lot of life experiences really, a lot of that comes from the time that I worked at Shock (records),” he replied. “I was there for over ten years the first time. Being part of the industry, working all the big international metal labels, going overseas and hanging with said labels and touring with the bands. Everything really, but a big part of that for me was, doing what I do today with Abramelin and in my life in general of course anyone who knows me horror in general has been such a massive influence in my life and still is to this very day. I’ve been reading horror for over forty and watching it for as long as I can remember. Yeah, so nasty music, nasty films, nasty books make a happy guy!”
As we chuckle at this grim reminiscence of our formative creations, I turned my attention to Matt and ask him to reflect on how he became such the prolifically brutal musician and songwriter he is today.
“Well, this is all gonna sound a bit contrite and weird, but I gotta say Abramelin played a big part in who I am now and why I am where I am,” he explained. “As well as everything else in life, experiences, people and bands. I used to go and see Abramelin play. The first time I saw them I was underage at the all-ages Cannibal Corpse show, and seeing Abramelin there set me on a path… Dave Haley (drums) he (we) both loved Abramelin when we were younger; if it wasn’t for me all those years ago tracking down Simon at Shock and saying “Ya know if you need a guitarist, I’ll play, and then it all came to fruition.” And then me sitting down learning all those old songs off the self-titled album and the first EP (Transgression From Acheron) prior, if I hadn’t had learnt those songs all that time ago I’d be a different guitarist than what I am now and given the guitar is such a massive fucking part of my life, I’d be a different person than what I am now if it wasn’t for joining Abramelin… you know, all the usual shit in life and also Abramelin twenty-five years ago putting me on the path of who I am and where I am now!”
It doesn’t get more profound, honest and meaningful than being able to write and play music in a band that defines your being completely!
Up till now, Tim Aldridge was the main songwriter for Abramelin, but decided to step away for personal reasons. HEAVY broached the topic of Tim’s departure with both Simon and Matt, primarily wanting to know if Tim is okay and how it has ultimately affected Abramelin’s core artistic endeavours. Simon reflects, saying that he is currently unsure of how Tim’s personal situation is and that they have lost contact with him and have had for some time, also without wanting to go into too much detail.
Simon informs us that Matt wrote Sins Of The Father in lockdown and then basically said I’ve written a new album while he was sitting on his arse like we all were not doing much, and Tim would you like to contribute some tracks? “We waited and waited and waited and nothing was forthcoming, so it was like well we’re gonna roll with Matt’s songs and one of Rob’s as well. Here’s the tracks, can we get you (Tim) into the studio to record, and we waited again, so once again he wouldn’t come to the party and get to the studio which was pretty frustrating for us. Realistically, Sins Of The Father would have come out over a year ago if we’d been able to pull everything together at the time… Matt had to go back into the studio to re-track all the guitars.”
The old chestnut comes out from Dower saying, “it is what it is” and in finishing he says “it was a shame to lose Tim, but he just wouldn’t come to the party, his heart wasn’t in it anymore. So it was either, we wait for him eternally or just roll on without! His final words on the matter we’re “Fuck that!”
So now we are all destined to hear Aramelin’s latest gore-soaked feast that is Sins Of The Father on October 4 via Hammerheart Records.
This deep dive podcast into the Godfather’s of death metal that are Abramelin is more than a boring old interview; it is a catch-up chat between friends of years past reflecting on all things awesome both new and old in Aussie death metal supremacy. The discussion went beyond more than just a new album, delving into the inner workings of extreme artistic audio and visual creation. Matt and Simon’s openness and honesty about the band’s existence is a pleasure to listen to and transcribe for the rest of the metal world to hear.
Check out the first two killer tracks from their upcoming album, Conflagration Of The Dreamers above and the title track, Sins Of The Father below and make sure you listen to the full nearly two-hour Abramelin special to hear from the two legends to experience the full history of this influential band!
