INTERVIEW: Abhorration

Norway’s Abhorration takes death metal back to a place of wildness and danger. Below is my conversation with vocalist / guitarist Magnus.

1. Hails Abhorration! Please introduce your band to us!

Abhorration is a Norwegian band hailing the true old roots of death metal. The band consists of Arild on lead guitars, Øyvind on drums, Andreas on bass and Magnus on guitars and vocals. We’ve released an EP called After Winter Comes War and an LP called Demonolatry, both through Invictus Productions in 2021 and 2024.

2. When you formed the band in 2020 what was the plan and what inspired you to create this diabolical death metal musick?

The plan was, and still is, to play death metal the way we like it. Death metal should be fast, aggressive and evil and we have no time for guttural, down-tuned and reverb-drenched bullshit. Not to mention triggered and overly produced crap. 

3. In 2021 you released a crushing four track demo tape with Invictus Productions. All real death metal bands start with a demo tape of course. What went into creating this release in terms of songwriting, production and attitude?

When we started out it was just Øyvind on drums and me on guitars, so I made the riffs and he did the drumming. This way of doing things continued for a while after Andreas joined. So for the demo, or EP as we regarded it, I wrote the riffs and the lyrics, and then we would do some rearranging and so on at band practice. It took us about a year to write the thing, and a few weeks to record in may 2021. We recorded it all in Andreas’ rehearsal space, and tracked it the way we’ve always done it: drums first, then overdub guitars, bass, leads and vocals. We mixed it in an evening at Arild’s house, though this was before he joined as a member of the band. When writing the material for this EP I became more conscious about actual structuring, and trying to avoid cliché song writing. Of course, you need some repetition, and the classic structure is a classic for a reason, but I started actually putting effort into diverting from the classic formula. This is much harder than I initially thought it would be, but also extremely rewarding when it works. I also did proper vocals for the first time, so I started working more on the phrasing than I had done the one previous time I’d done vocals, which I think worked well. We weren’t actually certain who would do the vocals until we started recording, but my style fit the music pretty well, so we stuck with it. 

4. There was a 3 year gap between this demo and the album. What occurred in those years? Mostly songwriting or playing shows or other unholy activities?

Mainly songwriting. We played a few shows here and there, but we really just focused on writing enough material for an album. We need a lot of practice to be able to play these songs properly, so we spent a lot of time rehearsing in order to prepare for the recording process. 

5. So in 2024 we got “Demonolatry”, your first studio album. It’s a blinding effort of true evil and morbidity. As you did with the demo tape, please tell us all about what went into creating this record?

The follow-up is always a tricky one. People suddenly have expectations as to what it should sound like. I’ve released a few disappointing debut full-lengths over the years, and the common denominator is usually that you get too fixated on just that. So this time around we just used everything we thought sounded good. Within a certain realm of course. The writing process was the same as with the EP: we wrote songs until we had enough for an album, then rehearsed shitloads and finally recorded. The songs were made in the order they appear on the album. Arild did the recording and mixing, and it all happened at his house. We struggled a lot with the mix, and even considered recording it all over again, but luckily we managed to get it sounding good eventually. 

6. Invictus Productions has handled all of your releases so far. They are easily one of my personal favourite labels in the underground, how have you found working with them and do you have any favourite bands on their roster?

Darragh and Invictus have been great. Easily the best label I’ve ever worked with. I initially got in touch with Invictus regarding the vinyl release of the demo from my previous band Hecatomb. Once Abhorration got started I asked if Darragh was interested, which he was on the condition that he actually liked the finished demo. Since then he’s been the most approachable label guy I’ve ever dealt with. My favourite band on Invictus would probably be Negative Plane.

7. Abhorration has not just been releasing killer music but also savaging fans in the live arena. Which have been some of your favourite shows and can you tell us some tales from the road?

Our last show at Killtown Death Fest this year was probably one of my favourites. It wasn’t our best played show, and there were some technical issues with the drums, but the whole atmosphere in the room made it. We also played a show in this tiny venue called Zille in Groningen, Germany earlier this year, which was really good. Capacity of maybe 50 people, with a total die-hard running the show. Lastly, we did a concert with Impugner and Filthdigger on the first day after the Covid lockdown. It was in a tiny recording studio in Oslo called Endless Tinnitus, which was our most chaotic concert to date. A room fit for 20 people packed with around 70 or so. 

8. Norway has a killer scene with bands like Black Viper, Nekromantheon, Obliteration, Condor (which you guys share / shared members with). How does being Norwegian shape Abhorration in terms of scene and also the country itself?

I think the Norwegian underground scene is more dogmatic than many other places. We are typically not open for much experimentation outside the realm of old metal, and often have strong opinions on recording techniques and so on. This I think has shaped this and previous bands quite a lot. We all have the same “vision” for the band, and we rarely have disagreements when it comes to the large picture. We know what real metal should sound like. I think this is important, as to not pollute the scene with modern shit, and to keep the underground real. Bands like Gatecreeper and so on can fuck off in my opinion. 

9. Of course Abhorration seems very rooted in the primitive death metal of Sadistic Intent, Possessed, Necrovore, Angelcorpse, Poison and perhaps most of all Morbid Angel. Is this an accurate guess at your primary influences or are there others you feel a stronger sense of inspiration from? Are there any other factors aside from music that inspire Abhorration?

You’re right on the money my friend. Everything you mentioned as well as a bunch of similar bands like Vader, Incantation, Lucifer’s Hammer and so on. In the same way that music inspired the riffs, texts and books inspire the lyrics. Right now I’m reading a Warhammer book, which is in a way inspiring. You could also say that we get inspired by the whole idea of making proper old death metal. The death metal scene is fucking packed with generic shit, so we at least try to make something slightly different.  

10. Going forward, what can we expect next? More demos, splits, EPs or even another album perhaps? Now you can forewarn us of your next conquests, plans and anything else you wish!

We’re currently working on a new album, and we’re about 40% there. In the meantime we might release a promo tape, but we’ll see. It all depends whether we get some good demo takes. There are more shows coming for 2026, but we’ll probably get busy with writing in the second half of the year. DIE BY POWER!!

Old school maniacs can get this interview and more in print here!