Abramelin (band)
{{Short description|Australian band}}{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2012}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Abramelin
| image =
| image_size =
| landscape =
| alt =
| caption =
| alias = Acheron (1988–1994)
| origin = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| genre = Death metal
| years_active = 1988–2002, 2016–present
| label = Corpsegrinder, Thrust/Shock, Repulse
| website =
| current_members = *Simon Dower
- Matt Wilcock
- Rob Mollica
- Dave Haley
| past_members = *David Abbott
- Derek Ackary
- Jason Black
- Michael Colton
- Tim Aldridge
- Jason Kells
- Jason Dutton
- Justin Wornes
- Craig Bailey
- Mark Shuliga
- Euan Heriot
- Matt Rizzo
- Matt "Skitz" Sanders
- Grant Karajic
- Lance Leembruggen
}}
Abramelin is an Australian death metal band, which formed as Acheron in 1988 and were one of the first such groups in the country. They were a main influence on the development of Australian heavy metal music in the early 1990s.[http://www.ausmetalguide.com/a/abramelin.htm Ausmetalguide.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080425063249/http://www.ausmetalguide.com/a/abramelin.htm |date=25 April 2008 }} The name change occurred in 1994 to avoid confusion with a similarly named international group; the new name was adopted from The Book of Abramelin, which concerns a mage of the same name. Members of Abramelin have also been in Blood Duster, The Berzerker, The Amenta, and Akercocke.
Abramelin supported tours by Napalm Death (1995), Paradise Lost, Cathedral (March 1996) and Cradle of Filth (2001). They released two studio albums, Abramelin (1995) and Deadspeak (2000), before disbanding in 2002. Abramelin reformed in 2016. In May 2020 the band released their third album Never Enough Snuff.
Acheron
Abramelin were formed in Melbourne in 1988 under the name Acheron as a death metal group by David Abbott on guitars, Derek Ackary on bass guitar, Jason Black on guitars, Michael Colton on drums and Simon Dower on lead vocals. Tim Aldridge replaced Black and the band recorded a demo track, "Eternal Suffering", before Jason Dutton and Justin Wornes took the places of Colton and Ackary. French label Corpsegrinder Records released a three-track EP, "Deprived of Afterlife", in 1991, with the line-up of Abbott on lead guitar, Aldridge on lead guitars, Dower on lead vocals, Dutton on drums and Wornes on bass guitar.
Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, noticed their "dark, heavy sound owed much to European and American death metal groups such as Bathory, Entombed, Obituary, Therion, Immolation and General Surgery." They were a part of the early "death/grindcore/thrash metal scene" in the late 1980s to early 1990s. In September 2008 Dower told Chris Archer of Vomitose that Acheron's sound had progressed by "learning how to play our instruments and sing helped a lot. At that time we were all listening to early demos of Carnage, Entombed, Grave, Morbid Angel, etc., all of which had a definite influence on our song writing and overall sound, that and just the natural progression of the band’s direction." A track from their EP later appeared on the Dutch compilation album, Appointment with Fear.
Following the release of the EP, Dutton was replaced by Craig Bailey. In 1992 after Abbott's departure, he was temporarily replaced by Jason Kells (of Australian doom band, diSEMBOWELMENT) who, in turn, was replaced by Mark Schuliga, bass player for the similarly aligned Necrotomy. In November 1993 Acheron supported United Kingdom extreme metallers, Carcass, on the Australian leg of that group's Heartwork Tour: Supreme Blitz to Downunder. They also supported tours by Morbid Angel and Pungent Stench. Bailey left in 1993 and was replaced by Euan Heriot. The group had found that an American black metal band also had the name, Acheron. Hence, inspired by The Book of Abramelin, which concerns a 14th-century alchemist-mage, the group took up their new name.
Renamed
The band changed its name in 1990. {{cite web|url=http://www.metallian.com/abramelin.php |title=Abramelin biography |publisher=metallian.com |date=21 May 2023 |access-date=21 May 2023}} Abramelin's first release under that name was in 1994: a four-track EP, Transgression from Acheron, after which Schuliga departed. Thrust Records, a subsidiary of Australian label, Shock Records, issued their debut studio album of the same name in 1995. McFarlane felt their "sound had taken on a sludge-like heaviness only matched by the likes of Brisbane band Misery." Abramelin supported tours by Napalm Death (1995), Paradise Lost and Cathedral (March 1996). The CD was withdrawn from sale in Western Australia due to explicit lyrics dealing with sexual violence against children and necrophilia. Rob Mollica, the drummer with a Melbourne death metal band, Earth, joined Abramelin as a guitarist but Heriot soon departed to uphold commitments with two other bands he was also playing drums for, Blood Duster and Fracture. Ex-Blood Duster drummer Matt Rizzo took Heriot's place on drums, in Abramelin, for a brief stint but after the break-up of Damaged he too was replaced, by Matt "Skitz" Sanders (Sadistik Exekution).
Late in 1997, Abramelin featured at Metal for the Brain, an Australian heavy metal festival. Spanish label, Repulse Records, picked up the debut for wider release but gave it almost no promotional support. Abramelin was re-released in Australia with Transgression from Acheron included, and this time without a lyric sheet in the packaging to avoid it being banned for a second time.
After this Abramelin were dormant as a live band for a few years. Their second album Deadspeak was gradually recorded, originally with drums by Sanders although his tracks were later re-recorded using a drum machine. It was released in 2000 on Shock, which featured only Dower on vocals and Aldridge performing all the music. With the live line-up of Aldridge, Dower, Rizzo, Grant Karajic on bass guitar and Matt Wilcock on guitar; Abramelin supported Cradle of Filth and again played at Metal for the Brain. Following this however, the group effectively disbanded. Further recording was rumoured but no new material emerged. Wilcock moved to Steel Affliction and The Berzerker, and then was with UK black/death metal band, Akercocke. Rizzo again became a member of Blood Duster.
On 21 October 2013 Abramelin issued a 3× CD, compilation album, Transgressing the Afterlife – The Complete Recordings 1988–2002. Kev Rowland of Metal Music Archives described its "total length is nearly four hours long! It is clearly a labour of love, and one thing that really impressed me is the quality of the sound throughout. Normally when faced with complete sets like this, much of it is of interest just for the historical context as opposed to playing this for pleasure (step forward Autopsy for example). But, even the rehearsal tracks sound as if they were recorded with a view for possible release as the sound is good and clear."
In 2016, reformed with the line-up of Dower, Aldridge, Wilcock, Mollica and Psycroptic drummer Dave Haley for some live dates.{{cite web|author=Brian Giffin|url=http://www.loudmag.com.au/news/metal-melbourne-returns/|title=Metal for Melbourne Returns|publisher=LoudMag|access-date=5 March 2018|date=12 September 2016}} The band's third album, Never Enough Snuff, was released on May 15, 2020.{{cite web|url=https://musiclinkwa.com.au/news/abramelin-vic-release-new-album-never-enough-snuff-may-15th-second-new-track-out-now/|title=ABRAMELIN (VIC) Release New Album 'Never Enough Snuff' May 15th & Second New Track OUT NOW!|publisher=Music Link WA|access-date=August 12, 2020|date=April 28, 2020}}
In July 2024, the band revealed the album art and track listing for their upcoming fourth album, Sins of the Father, and also revealed guitarist Tim Aldridge had departed the band.{{cite web|url=https://metal-roos.com.au/abramelin-presents-artwork-and-tracklist-for-their-new-album-sins-of-the-father/|title=ABRAMELIN presents artwork and tracklist for their new album "Sins of the Father"!|publisher=Metal Roos|access-date=July 4, 2024|date=July 4, 2024}} A month later, the band released the first single from the album, "Conflagration of the Dreamers", and revealed the album would be out on 4 October.{{cite web|url=https://www.everblack.com.au/2024/08/05/abramelin-release-new-track-conflagration-of-the-dreamers-new-album-out-october-4th/|title=Abramelin release new track 'Conflagration Of The Dreamers', new album out October 4th|publisher=Everblack Media|access-date=August 6, 2024|date=August 5, 2024}}
Band members
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Current members=
- Simon Dower – vocals {{small|(1988–2002, 2016–present)}}
- Rob "Wog" Mollica – bass {{small|(2016–present)}}, guitars {{small|(1994–1998)}}
- Matt Wilcock – guitars {{small|(2000–2002, 2016–present)}}
- Dave Haley – drums {{small|(2016–present)}}
- Joe Haley – guitars {{small|(2024–present)}}
{{col-2}}
=Former members=
- Jason Black – guitars {{small|(1988–1989)}}
- Derek Ackary – bass {{small|(1988–1990)}}
- David Abbott – guitars {{small|(1988–1991)}}
- Michael Colton – drums {{small|(1988–1991)}}
- Tim Aldridge – guitars {{small|(1989–2002, 2016–2024)}}, bass {{small|(1999–2000)}}
- Jason Kells – guitars {{small|(1989–1990)}}
- Justin Warnes – bass {{small|(1990–1999)}}
- Jason Dutton – drums {{small|(1990–1991)}}
- Craig Bailey – drums {{small|(1991–1994)}}
- Mark Shuliga – guitars {{small|(1992–1994)}}
- Euan Heriot – drums {{small|(1994–1996)}}
- Matt Rizzo – drums {{small|(1996–1998, 2000–2001)}}
- Matt "Skitz" Sanders – drums {{small|(1998–1999)}}
- Grant Karajic – bass {{small|(2000–2002)}}
- Lance Lembrin – drums {{small|(2001–2002)}}
{{col-end}}
Timeline
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id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals
id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar
id:bass value:blue legend:Bass
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id:studio value:black legend:Studio_Albums
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bar:Simon text:"Simon Dower"
bar:David text:"David Abbott"
bar:Jason text:"Jason Black"
bar:Tim text:"Tim Aldridge"
bar:Jason2 text:"Jason Kells"
bar:Mark text:"Mark Shuliga"
bar:Rob text:"Rob Wog"
bar:Matt text:"Matt Wilcock"
bar:Joe text:"Joe Haley"
bar:Derek text:"Derek Ackary"
bar:Justin text:"Justin Warnes"
bar:Grant text:"Grant Karajic"
bar:Mike text:"Michael Colton"
bar:Jason3 text:"Jason Dutton"
bar:Craig text:"Craig Bailey"
bar:Euan text:"Euan Heriot"
bar:Matt2 text:"Matt Rizzo"
bar:Matt3 text:"Matt Sanders"
bar:Lance text:"Lance Leembruggen"
bar:Dave text:"Dave Haley"
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width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
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bar:Simon from:08/01/2016 till:end color:vocals
bar:Jason from:01/01/1988 till:01/01/1989 color:guitar
bar:Tim from:01/01/1989 till:06/01/2002 color:guitar
bar:Tim from:08/01/2016 till:06/23/2024 color:guitar
bar:David from:01/01/1988 till:12/01/1991 color:guitar
bar:Mark from:01/01/1992 till:12/01/1994 color:guitar
bar:Rob from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/1998 color:guitar
bar:Matt from:01/01/2000 till:06/01/2002 color:guitar
bar:Matt from:08/01/2016 till:end color:guitar
bar:Jason2 from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/1990 color:guitar
bar:Joe from:08/02/2024 till:end color:guitar
bar:Derek from:01/01/1988 till:01/01/1990 color:bass
bar:Justin from:01/01/1990 till:12/01/1999 color:bass
bar:Grant from:01/01/2000 till:06/01/2002 color:bass
bar:Rob from:08/01/2016 till:end color:bass
bar:Mike from:01/01/1988 till:06/01/1991 color:drums
bar:Jason3 from:12/01/1990 till:05/01/1991 color:drums
bar:Craig from:06/01/1991 till:06/01/1994 color:drums
bar:Euan from:06/01/1994 till:01/01/1996 color:drums
bar:Matt2 from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/1998 color:drums
bar:Matt2 from:01/01/2000 till:06/01/2001 color:drums
bar:Matt3 from:01/01/1998 till:12/01/1999 color:drums
bar:Lance from:06/01/2001 till:06/01/2002 color:drums
bar:Dave from:08/01/2016 till:end color:drums
}}
Discography
=Studio albums=
- Abramelin (1995)
- Deadspeak (2000)
- Never Enough Snuff (2020)
- Sins of the Father (2024)
=EPs=
- Deprived of Afterlife (1991)
- Transgression from Acheron (1994)
=Compilations=
- Transgressing the Afterlife – The Complete Recordings 1988–2002 (21 October 2013)
=Demos=
- Eternal Suffering (1990)
- Promo 1992 (1992)
References
{{Reflist|refs=
{{cite book | last1 = McFarlane | first1 = Ian | author-link1 = Ian McFarlane | title = Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop | chapter = Encyclopedia entry for 'Abramelin' | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040803090225/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=7 | chapter-url = http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=7 | year = 1999 | publisher = Allen & Unwin | location = St Leonards, NSW | archive-date = 3 August 2004 | isbn = 1-86508-072-1 }}
{{cite web | url = http://www.allmusic.com/album/transgressing-the-afterlife-the-complete-recordings-1988-2002-mw0002584404 | title = Transgressing the Afterlife – The Complete Recordings 1988–2002 | publisher = AllMusic | access-date = 5 March 2015 }}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abramelin}}
Category:Musical groups established in 1988