Cognitive – Abhorrence (Review)

This is the fifth album from US death metallers Cognitive.

I always enjoy a new slab of Cognitive, (check out 2016’s Deformity, 2018’s Matricide, and 2021’s Malevolent Thoughts of a Hastened Extinction), so Abhorrence is well-received. Across 36 minutes Cognitive deliver the goods.

I do like an album with no filler tracks, and this is one such beast. It just gets on with the grisly work of dealing out punishment right across its running time.

Abhorrence gifts us a worthy continuation of the Cognitive death metal line. Bursting with brutal intensity and intricate ferocity, the music blurs the line between technical death metal texture and brute force deathcore heaviness. Cognitive’s songwriting has advanced though, making more use of savage hooks and emotive presence. Of the latter, this is the most striking development in Cognitive’s sound. There are more melodic elements here, and more dynamic energy on display. Plus, the band’s vocalist is on fire, dealing out deathblows with growls, screams, roars, and even semi-cleans with impunity. Top stuff. Also, within the band’s chosen musical framework, there’s a decent amount of furious variety here too.

Ultimately Abhorrence isn’t doing anything new with modern death metal that you haven’t heard before, but it’s doing it well enough that it really doesn’t matter. You can feel the band’s passion come through in every aspect of the music, and it’s a brutal joy to listen to. This is the Cognitive album I’ve probably enjoyed the most out of their strong discography, as the thing just rips and rips and rips and is great fun to listen to at loud volumes.

INTO THE PIT!

(Or at least the gym).

For fans of Cattle Decapitation, Psycroptic, Fit for an Autopsy, Origin, and Exocrine.