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Aborted Has The Big Night Covered With Their “Happy Horrorween” Playlist!

Thursday, October 28, 2021 | Music

Aborted have been unleashing horror-influenced death metal since their 1995 formation in Belgium. Throughout their career, the band have directly referenced flicks such as Re-Animator, Candyman and Night of the Living Dead, and their latest album combines all that horror love and more. ManiaCult is a Lovecraftian tale of cult leader Wayland Thurston (a name plundered from H.P.’s mythos), who is sacrificing humans to summon The Great Old Ones (again, cribbing from Lovecraft) to end humanity. There’s an underlying message about mental health, undead tentacle heads growing from Thurston’s back and much, much, more!

Just in time for the conclusion of spooky season, vocalist Sven de Caluwé has curated a playlist of Aborted’s most horror-ific tracks to close out your October with a scream! 

“Drag Me to Hell” – Based on Drag Me to Hell

We sure kept you guessing with that title. Drag Me to Hell is a hugely underrated Sam Raimi film. It’s a post-Spider-Man world but manages to recall the sense of humour present in his classic Evil Dead series. That kind of ha-ha-horror fit in perfectly with ManiaCult, so it was the perfect basis for a song that actually added to the concept. Wayland Thurston—our album’s “protagonist,” not the Lovecraft narrator after whom he’s named, for those horror freaks paying attention—is also beyond mentally ill. The cultish hell he’s living in, and the movie’s actual hell destination, can be seen as metaphors for the hell they’re living in. Oftentimes a person with living with schizophrenia or borderline personality disorder is aware of their situation and the harm it causes while going through it. Mental health is a huge underlying theme of this album, and I think it’s so important for people to be more in touch with theirs. Anyway, back to horror—even though to speak of horror while ignoring the underlying themes is a fool’s errands. 

“Farewell to the Flesh” – Based on Candyman

Clive Barker is one of my favourite authors and directors, so it was only natural I’d write a song about Candyman and the urban legend as a whole. Tony Todd’s voice and quotes are iconic, the kills are visceral, and it’s something that’s stuck by me ever since I saw it. The fact that the ultimate basis is more than just gore makes the story extra impressive. Nia DaCosta Candyman—a sequel with the same name—continues that social commentary. Despite being a slightly predictable, less visceral film and lacking Todd’s iconic voice, the concept is cool and overall well done! Thank god—or Candyman—for that because otherwise we’d be slightly less stoked that one of our most popular songs is based on it. Notice I only said the name four times? You can never be too careful.

“Altro Inferno” – Based on L’altro Inferno (aka The Other Hell)

What’s with Italians and making great horror movies?! Our song is more of an homage than a straight retelling, even though L’altro Inferno translates directly to The Other Hell. The 1981 film is about nuns getting possessed by the devil, which is always a good time. But less directly, it ties into the overall theme of TerrorVision, wherein we live in another hell, a less literal hell: the reality in which we find ourselves living.

“Deep Red” – Based on Deep Red (aka The Hatchet Murders)

See? ITALIANS! I hope Stefano [Francheschini, bassist…and Italian, duh] doesn’t have film-making ambitions or I fear we may have to find a low-end low life. Kidding! But seriously, this is a classic Dario Argento giallo. I can’t pick which of its titles are more badass. I mean, The Hatchet Murders is TOUGH, but the Deep Red is eerie in how much it leaves to your imagination; it practically activates the senses, like you can smell the copper in the blood! And blood there is. This is some good, clean, chopping fun, which goes well with the chopping riffs in the song. Enjoy and do the dishes, ya rascals!

“Cenobites” – Based on Hellraiser

This one is quite the direct nods to one of my favourite horror movies growing up. (It’s actually one of many songs we have based on it—more on that later.) This one even has verbatim quotes in it, starting with, “We have such sights to show you” right off the top. It’s a bait and switch because we actually assault another sense with this blast beaten beast, which starts by lulling the listener into a false sense of security with its creepy intro. Now that I think about it, calling it a “blast beaten beast” is a bit reductive because it’s truly one of our more diverse songs, perhaps in honour of the many ways pain can be pleasure? Tear your soul apart!

“The Origin of Disease” – Based on 28 Days Later + 28 Weeks Later

Man is truly the origin of disease—both literally and metaphorically. On the latter side, the violent “Rate” virus that is depicted in these movies perfectly matches the malevolence and violence of the track. The lyrics, of course, follow suit. These are some of the most stressful horror movies to watch, hands down, even more so in the wake of COVID-19 and seeing a real life example of an example spreading rampantly. Now imagine it turned you into OP zombies?! Fuck.

“Sanguine Verses (of Extirpation)” – Based on Braindead (aka Dead Alive)

I kick ass for the lord; it’s time for some divine intervention! This one is specifically about the horrible and hilarious necromance between the priest and nurse. Zombies can procreate, who knew?! At least the zombies here are unlike the ones referenced above, in that they’re a bit slow—in the head and movement—which begs the all-important question: did the undead priest cum fast?

“Underneath Rorulent Soil” – Based on Cabin Fever

Unlike most of the horrific films highlighted here, Cabin Fever gets its fear from the practicality of it all. Sure, flesh eating disease doesn’t QUITE work like that, but being inflicted with some disease or parasite when stuck outside civilization is a hell of a lot more believable than there also being a psycho killer. Okay, there are some of those too, but at least they’re not, like, super-powered! The flesh-eating bacteria is, though, and leaves those corpses rotting in the not-so-free world. The good things in life, am I right? At least in the land of death metal, that is! And of course, I’m talking about the original, you worms!

“Engineering the Dead” – Based on Re-Animator

Not so long ago, we hypothesized that ManiaCult Leader Wayland Thurston may actually be Herbert West. Both are moving toward some goal under the guise of bettering the world, but they’re both just kind of selfish little dicks. And they both reanimate people—kind of. West certainly engineers the dead in a more literal sense, but Thurston sort of does the same thing; when he sacrifices humans—ultimately to summon The Great Old Ones to end humanity—they manifest as tentacle heads growing from his back. So much more interesting than the Christian reincarnation story! This timeless and goofy classic Lovecraft tale is essential for any horror or death metal fan. And at that apex is Aborted!

“To Roast and Grind” – Based on Night of the Living Dead

This is THE OG zombie movie that any fan of horror should have seen. The best part? It’s not merely about destroying the undead—zombie torture porn, if you will—but also focuses on surviving an impossible situation. It feels claustrophobic to watch, as the walls are closing in on the would (and, for many, eventually will) be victims. The lack of a happy ending makes George A. Romero’s classic a truly devastating apocalyptic tale. This song also made a perfect name for our coffee blend, which does the opposite of zombifying by waking you up HARD! Or did—it sold out. Maybe we’ll make it again to keep on hand for the inevitable zombie apocalypse? Hmmm…

“The Lament Configuration” – Based on Hellraiser

This track is from our debut LP The Purity of Perversion, which is lost to the annals of time—at least as far as Spotify goes. It’s hardly a puzzle to figure out that this track is about the Hellraiser puzzle box, also known as the Lament Configuration. The strange (and shiny!) little mechanical box is secretly a gateway to Hell that summons the Cenobites. It’s always fascinated me, so of course it was an early lyrical topic. I’ve seen plenty of facsimiles of them over the years, but if they ever manage to make an automated one, which runs itself through the steps once it starts, I will be the happiest kid ever!

Like Aborted’s “Slasher Kart” imagery? Grab the T-shirt here!

Rocco T. Thompson
Rocco is a Rondo-nominated film journalist and avid devotee of all things weird and outrageous. He penned the cover story for Rue Morgue's landmark July/Aug 2019 "Queer Fear" Special Issue, and is an associate producer on In Search of Darkness: Part III, the latest installment in CreatorVC's popular 1980s horror documentary series.