My first encounter with Abramelin was seeing them support Carcass, together with Corpse Molestation, in the early nineties. While they were still Acheron back then this was my first extreme metal show so, needless to say, it made a hefty impression on me and I subsequently saw them live numerous times over the years, including at Metal For The Brain, and along the way they became one of my favourite death metal bands even though they only managed two albums, "Abramelin" (1995) and "Deadspeak" (2000).
While it is never a given that it will work out, it is an exciting thing when a band that is held in such high regard returns after an absence, particularly a twenty year absence. When news broke of the return of Abramelin with "Never Enough Snuff" I was certainly not the only one to have their appetite whetted and the release of two songs ahead of time only served to make this anticipation more rabid. Of course, such high expectations can lead to bitter disappointment but that is certainly not the case here.
Let's get the obvious out of the way, the passing of two decades has done nothing to soften their sound, Abramelin effectively pick up where they left off but that should have already been apparent from the album title and cover art. Speaking of the cover, it should be noted that what adorns the album is infinitely more subtle and restrained than what is contained within with the hidden artwork more than commensurate with the album title and I can see why they chose to conceal it behind the imagery above, making for a nice surprise.
Just like all good serial killers take time to refine their methods, "Never Enough Snuff" takes what Abramelin has done before and amplifies the violence tenfold this time around with every facet brought up to date. Sure, it probably doesn't hurt that it was mixed and mastered by the legendary Dan Swano, a man who knows a thing or two about death metal, but the performances by all involved still would have resulted in a successful outcome in any case as there are no weak songs to be found, quite the opposite.
What more needs to be said? Not only has Abramelin returned with a vengeance, they have also managed to release one of the best albums of the year, one that takes their already well established legacy and furthers it considerably. Based upon all I have seen and read elsewhere "Never Enough Snuff" has been widely praised, and rightly so, because, let's face it, you can never have enough of this kind of snuff, even if we had to wait twenty years to get here.
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