Aborted: 'Metal Nowadays Is Not The Same Metal It Used To Be'

You may have forgotten about this death metal band as they’ve been pretty quiet lately, but now Aborted are here to remind you who they are with an astonishing new album, Slaughter & Apparatus: A Methodical Overture. The record turned out to be far more sophisticated than an average offering from a modern metal band and features collaborations with such giants of the genre as Jeff Walker (ex-Carcass) and Jacob Bredahl (Hatesphere). Slaughter & Apparatus: A Methodical Overture was out in February and is still getting praising reviews from the critics. With this comeback album the band proved their status of mad scientists of metal that are not afraid to experiment.

Aborted was formed in Sweden in 1995 by Sven de Caluwé and since that time he had remained the only backbone of the band. The band is famous for its line-up changes – since 1995 till today there has been 7 different guitarists! Now, for the release of the new album, the line up is totally different once again – all the members joined Aborted in 2006-2007 except, of course, the frontman Sven de Caluwé.

Ultimate Guitar got a chance to talk to Aborted new guitarist Sebastien “Seb Purulator” Tuvi who is number 8 if you count. Ironically, the guitar player of such a serious and scary metal band called us for an interview from the most romantic city on Earth – Paris that turmed out to be his permanent place of living! More ironically he appeared to be a very nice man to talk to, meanwhile complaining to rainy weather in the city.

Sebastein has quite a big experience as a guitarist under his belt – before joining Aborted, he was noticed in such bands as Garwall, Balrog and Genital Grinder. Seb had one simple reason to join Aborted – he just had some spare time and wanted to travel around more. On top on that of course he knew the band’s previous works and has been a fan for a long time. His thoughts quite came true as Aborted are intensively touring Europe all through summer with Hatesphere to support the new album. They are playing at the biggest summer fests, sharing the stage with the bands like Immortal, Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death. “We are all quite excited about this tour ‘cause it means a lot to us as a band.”

Even though all the musicians have just joined Aborted, according to Seb the relationship in the band right now is great - the guys are having fun getting to know each other. This time around Sven was more careful about finding the right persons and the right players and it all paid back! “All of us are hoping that the current line-up will last for a long time!” says Seb.

"I believe you should just play metal good, that's the only thing that matters."

Does he think those numerous line-up changes has limited the progress forward the band? “Not at all. Everything depends on the professionalism of people playing together – if you know what you’re playing and how you’re playing it, you can’t go wrong. At the moment the team is very powerful and the musicians are capable to move the band forward, creating a strong force.”

I couldn’t resist asking Seb what he thinks about various band members influencing the music of Aborted as it should be hard for people with different background to fit into one concept. “Of course each one of us brings something new to the table as we all are very individual and have our own ideas about the sound of the band. But Sven manages to convert all our thoughts into one solid sound and keep the band’s originality at the same time.”

To warm up the interest to the album, Aborted released The Auricular Chronicles DVD in autumn 2006, which contains live show shot in France plus of course video clips, band interviews, backstage chronicles, which was excitedly greeted by the fans. In support of the new album the band are now intensively touring USA and Europe with Danish metal thrashers Hatesphere. The show is a violent loud experience with songs both from the new album and the old ones. There are some fans rambling about not too many songs from the previous albums. Seb says the reason for that is quite obvious – they just can’t fit all songs in one show, but the program is constantly changed, depending on the band’s mood and timeslot. “Every day is a different show – it all depends on the event we’re playing at, sometimes we don’t have that much time. Obviously the number of songs we have to choose from is getting bigger every day, but we’re trying to pick the optimal set list!”

Sebastien was endorsed by quite many guitars during his career; right now he is playing ESP guitars and 666 strings and seems quite satisfied with both of them. All the guitarists in the band use LTD/ESP Eclipse guitars. It’s the vibrato feel and attack you have with a fixed bridge on those guitars that is very addictive, especially when you’re playing metal. For his peavey 5150 Seb uses the lead channel. “Depending on the guitar and the cabinet I'm using, for the loud effect the gain level varies from 5 to 7, bass 5, mid 7, high 6, master 3 depth punch 6, presence 7.”

Lately the band has launched MySpace and YouTube video series, giving the fans an opportunity to learn something more about the band. The first episode was about drums with drummer Dan Wilding shooting a video of himself playing a few songs. Now the guys are preparing a new episode, which is supposed to be about guitars and Seb will let you spy on him playing tracks from the album and explaining the techniques he’s using.

The last question for Seb was about the metal genre today – is it slowly dieing as the bands have hard times finding a source for inspiration or it just a transition period of this music. Apparently he is very skeptical about the new generation of metal bands, he even sees no point listening to them or remembering any names as they are not even seemingly as strong as their predecessors back in 1990s. “I believe you should just play metal good, that’s the only thing that matters. I don’t really care about popular metal bands nowadays as it’s not the same metal it used to be. The genre has mutated a lot, gained a lot of unnecessary variation, so when it comes to metal, it’s only a matter of time when the bands will get back to the roots.”

Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2007

Comments

[Pingis_Or_Death]

Ironically, the guitar player of such a serious and scary metal band called us for an interview from the most romantic city on Earth – Paris that turmed out to be his permanent place of living! More ironically he appeared to be a very nice man to talk to

I don't find that ironic at all

[PsYkO_kiLLa90]

Pingis_Or_Death wrote:

Ironically, the guitar player of such a serious and scary metal band called us for an interview from the most romantic city on Earth – Paris that turmed out to be his permanent place of living! More ironically he appeared to be a very nice man to talk to

I don't find that ironic at all

yeah just because someone plays or listens to death metal doesnt make them an evil antisocial deathcraving serial killer who hates anything to do with not murding someone. good ****ing job stereotyping

[Black Ivan]

I agree with Pingis_Or_Death and PsYkO_kiLLa90. That isn't ironic at all. But still great article!

[Savage Animal]

This was written below-par compared to most interviews on here. Several typos and grammatical errors, and a lot of stuff I had to re-read just to figure out what the author was trying to say. Also, this sentence felt like a product placement:

It’s the vibrato feel and attack you have with a fixed bridge on those guitars that is very addictive, especially when you’re playing metal.

[Sense()Offender]

The last question for Seb was about the metal genre today – is it slowly dieing

Dieing is not a word. Dying.

I don’t really care about popular metal bands nowadays as it’s not the same metal it used to be

No kidding - but guess what - no music is the same as it used to be - it's called progress. If I wanna hear old metal over and over, I'll put on an old Iron Maiden cd. Does anyone really wanna hear the same sh*t over and over and over? How boring.

[kerryritter]

Sense()Offender wrote:
I don’t really care about popular metal bands nowadays as it’s not the same metal it used to be

No kidding - but guess what - no music is the same as it used to be - it's called progress. If I wanna hear old metal over and over, I'll put on an old Iron Maiden cd. Does anyone really wanna hear the same sh*t over and over and over? How boring.

agreed!!

[Kaliyuga]

Aborted is a Belgian band . . .

[jammyninja]

The genre has mutated a lot, gained a lot of unnecessary variation

Oh no! Change (!)

Cos playing the same thing every album is what makes a band good.....

[Rockon914]

I don’t really care about popular metal bands nowadays as it’s not the same metal it used to be

well no shit sherlock

[a7xsoad]

lmao simple minded for a technical death metal.....

[saddam]

they are belgian indeed...

[ReeseKillsHIV]

Wow, never thought I'd see this band on the UG homepage

I haven't

[ReeseKillsHIV]

I haven't listened to them in awhile, but good nonetheless*

F*cking enter key

[TMA-2]

PsYkO_kiLLa90 wrote:

yeah just because someone plays or listens to death metal doesnt make them an evil antisocial deathcraving serial killer who hates anything to do with not murding someone. good ****ing job stereotyping

says "PSYKO KILLA" lol

[allchavsrgay]

They dont seem to be the most exiting people to ever walk on the earth!

[sebbsmith]

'Metal Nowadays Is Not The Same Metal It Used To Be'

No shit, Sherlock.
What genre really sounds like how it used to? Apart from Classic Rock obviously.

[jasonhutchcraft]

youre right, its not the same as it used to be, because the shitty bands like aborted keep releasing new stuff... K, maybe they arent shitty, but I dont like the sound of their stuff at all.

[SailorJeff]

Good band but I have disagree with the metal scene being bad because its not what it used to be. I like the death metal bands out right now and thats all that matters right now.

[Omit_Myself]

What people seem to forget is, although change is what progresses a genre and music in general, there IS such thing as negative change aswell. And to a purist, these can cheapen the music. Maybe the changes taking place in metal aren't to his particular taste.

Think about the way Metallica changed and how much people completely abhored it.

[MetalorDIE]

awesome band! one of the TRUE great death metal bands that are around today. By the way, they originated from Belguim...atleast that what ive seen from other pages about this band.

[luciodeath]

go to the aborted and see what they listen to.
now, who are these guys to talk about metal

[Jawshuwa]

"You may have forgotten about this death metal band..."

And apparently the band seems to have forgotten that metal did not start off as "death metal." The hypocrisy is bleeding throughout the article.

[Deathfru]

damn the dude just answered a ****ing question and he answered it. aside from all the mistakes which i realy dont care about we are all human and the common sence factors i couldnt agree more with seb. i mean who has heard of protest the hero and darkest hour. they are ruining our music with there gay signing and shit.

[that1l)ude]

No kidding - but guess what - no music is the same as it used to be - it's called progress. If I wanna hear old metal over and over, I'll put on an old Iron Maiden cd. Does anyone really wanna hear the same sh*t over and over and over? How boring.

+1,000,000,000.
couldn't agree more.

damn the dude just answered a ****ing question and he answered it. aside from all the mistakes which i realy dont care about we are all human and the common sence factors i couldnt agree more with seb. i mean who has heard of protest the hero and darkest hour. they are ruining our music with there gay signing and shit.

a couple of bands you don't like is not gonna ruin music you do. I don't particularly enjoy country music, but do i go off bitching saying its ruining music? Hell no.
If theres no current music you can find that you like, you're either not looking hard enough or you're EXTREMELY close-minded.

[the spiker]

In all honesty, I do not find this new album any bit sophisticated at all.

[Ramseus]

What nowadays metal is he talking about? Variation is good, whether or not he likes it doesn't mean that other people don't, ergo it won't go away, and there's plenty of folks who still play straight death metal and such.

[RJMan]

To Deathfru: So a few bands are actually singing in thier metal? holy shit!! what about ozzy, maiden, and all the other bands who invented the genre? Protest the hero and other bands like Between the buried and me, and stuff like mars volta(not metal, but w/e) are trying to go beyond things that have already been done, unlike the close minded "macho metal guys" who stick to the same old beats, growling, and monotonous bass, and overused guitar riffs. And screaming was originally brought into the genre by the hardcore kids, not the metal kids, so personally i'd say these bands are truly the ones going back to thier roots

[And2001PT]

Yes, music has changed. But it hasn't necesarily progressed.
Also, I think it's ****ing ridiculous for people or musicians to complain how the scene changed and 'IT'S NOT FOR REAL'.
If you're so ****ing hardcore, get off your ass and go write some good music.

[The_Man_IV]

Heavy Metal dying? mabey from what it use to be But dying? No... The amount of metal out there

Really no musical genre dies because there are allways going to be fans listing to it...If theres just 1 or 1 million someone listens to it.
Everything in this world Changes the only thing that never Changes is "change"...What metal and the guitar sounded like 20 years ago is not what its going to sound like now adays even if its for better or for worse you just have to live with the change.

[cks102]

i think this is so true cause i think all the new stuff that is coming out is losing its shine.it is not having the same anger driven metal that it was in the in the nineties and it is going to die soon. all of the bands are slowly crossing over and selling out wich is sad but true.

[cks102]

i think that it is so true that metal is dying. people who might disagree wuld say that it isnt because it has stuck around all this time. that is true but does not change the fact that all the metal bands are crossing over to a non metal genre. metal has stuck around until now but the reason is is because all the founders of metal never crossed over.they had off fases but they never croseed over. black sabbath and mettallica never did anything thatwas non metal. maybe softer but they were over all metal and that is how we are killing metal and betraying our metal founders.may metal r.i.p.

[DesDenoVa]

It's a belgian band, not a swedish band -_-

[poisonmywell]

Deathfru wrote:

damn the dude just answered a ****ing question and he answered it. aside from all the mistakes which i realy dont care about we are all human and the common sence factors i couldnt agree more with seb. i mean who has heard of protest the hero and darkest hour. they are ruining our music with there gay signing and shit.

Have you even heard Darkest Hour before? Name one DH song that has any singing, let alone "gay singing". Second, If you don't like a band, don't listen to it. Don't whine and bitch about how bands you don't like are ruining "your music". Dumb ****s like you are the people who give metal fans a bad name

[a7x_rocker_a7x]

The_Man_IV :
Heavy Metal dying? mabey from what it use to be But dying? No... The amount of metal out there

Really no musical genre dies because there are allways going to be fans listing to it...If theres just 1 or 1 million someone listens to it.
Everything in this world Changes the only thing that never Changes is "change"...What metal and the guitar sounded like 20 years ago is not what its going to sound like now adays even if its for better or for worse you just have to live with the change.

agreed... so people, how is metal dying? theres soo many metal bands out there, and so much variety of it. you got black, death, grindcore, progressive, and my personal favorite, melodic/metalcore. if you any of you guys like metalcore as well, you should all check out my band Confirm The Fallen myspace.com/confirmthefallen. We are only teenagers and we are on Sounds of the Underground in Milwaukee, WI this year. KEEP IT METAL!!!!!

[noahray]

its not even april fools and Ug seems to have interviewed a legit death metal band. huge props. i guess they had no axl news/interviews to post today

[pagan_bloodlust]

i find the generic comments about change to be laughable, i agree that the current state of metal to be a disgrace, not because i'm a close minded elitist but because of the fact that metal is being portrayed as generic metal-core, which is, imo, a very stagnant part of the whole genre. I also think there are alot of death metal bands out there who bring nothing to the plate and help keep up the whole facade of modern metal.

[evyatar]

jasonhutchcraft wrote:

youre right, its not the same as it used to be, because the shitty bands like aborted keep releasing new stuff... K, maybe they arent shitty, but I dont like the sound of their stuff at all.

then why the hell did you read the interview?

[guitarist41]

sebbsmith wrote:

'Metal Nowadays Is Not The Same Metal It Used To Be'

No shit, Sherlock.
What genre really sounds like how it used to? Apart from Classic Rock obviously.

+1

Well said.

[TMKA]

PsYkO_kiLLa90 wrote:

Pingis_Or_Death wrote:

Ironically, the guitar player of such a serious and scary metal band called us for an interview from the most romantic city on Earth – Paris that turmed out to be his permanent place of living! More ironically he appeared to be a very nice man to talk to

I don't find that ironic at all
yeah just because someone plays or listens to death metal doesnt make them an evil antisocial deathcraving serial killer who hates anything to do with not murding someone. good ****ing job stereotyping

+2
most people who stereotype "death" metal dont even realize that the name comes from a band called "Death"(who was one of the early "death metal" bands, along with morbid angel, possesed and co.)

there are plenty of "death metal" bands who'se lyrics are about everything but death

[noahray]

the problem is now so many shortcuts like myspace, online tabs, etc is helping give rise to a new generation of talentless pseudo metal groups who exist under the guise of "metal core." metal "core" has developed into a scene where there is an exact formula to follow and straying from it alienates the steady base of myspace user fans, which translates into less and less deviation = less and less talent/originality.

granted, there are pioneer metalcore bands that exist, but their sound is completely different than the 100s of AILDesque bands that surface weekly. metal itself isn't suffering at all, metalcore is like a bait that draws the poser metal fans away and likewise keeps the majority of the genre real.

[scarfacesuit]

most death metal bands consist of well rounded individuals, as opposed to the stereotype "bloodthirsty heathens".

[ACDCRocksPM]

Well i can see what he meant when he siad that metal today isnt that good, some of it is a pile of crap but then there's those bands with the shredding guitar and good song structure like melodic death metal bands like Children of Bodom and Soilwork.

[Maiden2]

you know, metal sucks now.. except bls, and mabye blindguardian,

METAL IS GONE D:

[Set-Abominae]

Maiden2 wrote:

you know, metal sucks now.. except bls, and mabye blindguardian,

METAL IS GONE D:

There's still some good stuff out there. Besides 'Guardian and the Society, there's Iced Earth, Arch Enemy, Megadeth to name a few.

[nodice182]

this was a really poorly written article.

[Macabre_Turtle]

I've never heard the band but this interview made me lose all interest in them. That was some of the most closed minded shit I've heard from a metal band in my life.....

[Asthia]

Who cares about metal being different.
Everything has changed.
May as well go back to the dark ages if we get into a mentality where we think the original is the best.

[guitarist41]

Asthia wrote:

Who cares about metal being different.
Everything has changed.
May as well go back to the dark ages if we get into a mentality where we think the original is the best.

+1, again.

Everything evolves.

[emil_sej]

I like the way he calls Jacob Bredahl (Hatesphere) a giant of the genre That's pretty big for a fairly new (2001) band.

Don't misunderstand me, he's is one of my favourite vocalists

[surferdude]

wooo aborted! the drummer played on my kit the other day. he's a bit good.

[sephiroth033]

Maiden2 wrote:

you know, metal sucks now.. except bls, and mabye blindguardian,

METAL IS GONE D:

Metal is not gone, but it has simply expanded to a massive variety of genres ranging from black metal, thrash metal, and death metal to Metalcore, power metal, viking metal, and groove metal. There are still plenty of great metal bands out there too like iced earth, amon amarth, dimmu borgir, dragonforce, megadeth, iron maiden is still releasing new stuff, shadows fall, RHCP, and ozzy is still releasing.

[Cannibalkyle16]

Deathfru wrote:

damn the dude just answered a ****ing question and he answered it. aside from all the mistakes which i realy dont care about we are all human and the common sence factors i couldnt agree more with seb. i mean who has heard of protest the hero and darkest hour. they are ruining our music with there gay signing and shit.

darkest hour doesn't sing
you clearly are just jumping on the I HATE METALCORE bandwagon. But still..aborted > darkest hour anyway...

[Deanslinger]

jammyninja wrote:

The genre has mutated a lot, gained a lot of unnecessary variation


Oh no! Change (!)

Cos playing the same thing every album is what makes a band good.....

pff we shoulda just stopped all the gay new shit and studied the old ones bahahaha

[freakypop]

death metal sucks play rock n f*ckin roll

deathmetal is for people w/no friends

[Burning_Angel]

meh. I kinda agree with him. Most of the popular bands these days ****in suck. And what's sad is that its mostly roadrunners fault, because all the shit bands are on roadrunner.

[Burning_Angel]

^ sorry, meant to say a lot of the shitty bands...

[psilocyndreams2]

actually darkest hour does sing but that's not the point. there's still a lot of metalcore bands that are musically talented and write good songs. i like aborted but i think death metal has become a pretty bland genre nowadays and some bands that have a hardcore influence add a breathe of fresh air.

[nirvana4lf]

they are kinda boring, at least their new album is. its not very special, and its repetitive. they shouldnt say shit like metal is not the same as it used to be because there are great metal bands like cepalic carnage, in fact, make sure you get their new album xenosapien, a great example of how they are wrong.

[Cafas]

I find it hilarious when people try to counter his points and bring up the Sounds of the Underground tour.

[TheAmenCorner89]

Before you go dissing Roadrunner there are some amazing bands on there including the almighty Opeth (bows) Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree

[sevendayloss]

Im sick of people saying everything is sold out, because people wanna sign to a major label their "selling out". and just because a band doesnt play a million notes per beat makes the music "watered down". Some people do like to hear melodies.
Same with vocals, just because their singing doesnt mean their "selling out".
Im just sick of all the bashing :|

[MrGuitar123]

This guy has no room to talk...

Aborted is good don't get me wrong but there is plenty of good death metal out there. JFAC turned CC-wannabe. They still suck, Yes, but atleast the vocalist doesn't sound like a ****ing pig. The Metal world as we know it is changing adding more hardcore influences, adds a breath of fresh air to a turning bland genre.


Of course your gonna have faggs like As Blood Runs Black trying to bolster the stale Metalcore genre. Or this "Deathcore" shit, I don't think its even a REAL genre.

[Cafas]

Even worse than a metalcore kiddie is someone whose main reference point is VH1.

Checked

[SonOfTheFather]

jesus god, who typed this article, i don't know how many times the word "has" was used when the word "have" was the grammatically correct choice... ...eh, w/e, i'm checkin this band out.

nirvana4lf wrote:

they are kinda boring, at least their new album is. its not very special, and its repetitive. they shouldnt say shit like metal is not the same as it used to be because there are great metal bands like cepalic carnage, in fact, make sure you get their new album xenosapien, a great example of how they are wrong.

did somebody pay you to advertise xenosapien or what? dude, nobody said that just because metal isn't the same as it used to be that there aren't any good metal bands out there anymore. compare cephalic carnage to megadeth... and what do you get? i'll tell you: you get the phrase, "metal isn't what it used to be."

[CHERRYSODA]

"Metal Nowadays Is Not The Same Metal It Used To Be"

Wow, you're real bright. No kidding.

[Xeus]

not the best UG article i've ever read

[rock_and_blues]

wow i love how everyone jumped on the guy for having an opinon. If he dosen't like metal nowadays and thinks its ruining the genre, then he has the right to think it. No one is right or wrong here so quit the back and forth bitching, it's just redundant and dumb...i swear metal fans are the most arguementive people i've ever met.

[noahray]

no, metalCORE fans are!

[22acacia]

Metal isnt what it used to be??? No shit??? News to me...

[22acacia]

SonOfTheFather :
jesus god, who typed this article, i don't know how many times the word "has" was used when the word "have" was the grammatically correct choice... ...eh, w/e, i'm checkin this band out.

stupid, this isnt a class room, who gives a shit ya damn gomer

[synpet713192]

hey, Freakypop... f*ck you... if you think death metal sucks, then go suck yourself... this is a Guitar website... and rock n roll, awesome as it is, can't keep on its feet next to Death Metal Guitarists

[fishergirl106]

ok ok breathe deep people! I agree with Sebastien (they guy being interviewed in case you all forgot), not because the sound of metal has changed, but because any "mainstream" metal these days sounds the same! there's no freakin variety in most "metalcore" bands!

its not that he's against change, he's probably against the fact that there's no variety! there have been some good changes, there are really good new bands out there, it's just all of the new bands that sound the same that piss me off!

[Macabre_Turtle]

22acacia wrote:

SonOfTheFather :
jesus god, who typed this article, i don't know how many times the word "has" was used when the word "have" was the grammatically correct choice... ...eh, w/e, i'm checkin this band out.

stupid, this isnt a class room, who gives a shit ya damn gomer

So you only need to know how to speak English in school? Right.....

[JoeBender]

Wow, this article was horribly written. Ever heard of grammar?

[Bag0Dimes]

Ironically, the guitar player of such a serious and scary metal band called us for an interview from the most romantic city on Earth – Paris that turmed out to be his permanent place of living! More ironically he appeared to be a very nice man to talk to

Aint Venice the most romantic city in the world?

but ye look at opeth, their frontman is one of the most down to earth people ever, but he makes my 3 year old brother scared with his screaming xD

Just cause you play death metal doesnt mean you kill people, thats black metal (supossedly =/)

[Cheatachue]

[quote]Sense()Offender wrote:



Dieing is not a word. Dying.

"dieing" is a word, you can spell it both ways although its more common in Western culture to see "dying"