Abramelin is an Australian

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

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. 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 ''The Book of Abramelin'' tells the story of an Egyptian mage named Abraham, or Abra-Melin, who taught a system of magic to Abraham of Worms, a Jew from Worms, Germany, presumed to have lived from to . The system of magic from this book regai ...

'', which concerns a

mage Mage most commonly refers to: * Mage (paranormal) or magician, a practitioner of magic derived from supernatural or occult sources * Mage (fantasy) or magician, a type of character in mythology, folklore, and fiction * Mage, a character class in ...

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 Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands, in 1981. None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mi ...

(1995),

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an Epic poetry, epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The poem concerns the Bible, biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their ex ...

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

(March 1996) and

Cradle of Filth Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved originally from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic metal and other metal genres. Their ly ...

(2001). They released two studio albums, ''

Abramelin Abramelin may refer to: *''The Book of Abramelin ''The Book of Abramelin'' tells the story of an Egyptian mage named Abraham, or Abra-Melin, who taught a system of magic to Abraham of Worms, a Jew from Worms, Germany, presumed to have lived fr ...

'' (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 Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the ''Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...

, 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 Disembowelment, disemboweling, evisceration, eviscerating or gutting is the removal of Organ (biology), organs from the gastrointestinal tract (bowels or viscera), usually through an incision made across the Abdomen, abdominal area. Disembowelm ...

) who, in turn, was replaced by Mark Schuliga, bass player for the similarly aligned Necrotomy. In November 1993 Acheron supported United Kingdom

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

lers,

Carcass Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to: * Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc. *Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being, also c ...

, on the Australian leg of that group's Heartwork Tour: Supreme Blitz to Downunder. They also supported tours by

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida, formed in 1983 by guitarist, primary composer and sole remaining original member Trey Azagthoth, vocalist and bassist Dallas Ward, and drummer Mike Browning. Widely considere ...

and Pungent Stench. Bailey left in 1993 and was replaced by Euan Heriot. The group had found that an American

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

band also had the name, Acheron. Hence, inspired by ''

'', which concerns a 14th-century

alchemist Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

, the group took up their new name.

Renamed

The band changed its name in 1994. 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

(1995),

and

(March 1996). The CD was withdrawn from sale in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

due to explicit lyrics dealing with sexual violence against children and

necrophilia Necrophilia, also known as necrophilism, necrolagnia, necrocoitus, necrochlesis, and thanatophilia, is sexual attraction or acts involving corpses. It is classified as a paraphilia by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its ''International ...

. 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 Metal for the Brain was Australia, Australia's largest heavy metal music festival. The event was held in Canberra, Australia, Canberra annually, usually towards the end of the year, and featured Australian bands almost exclusively. The festival ...

, an Australian heavy metal festival.

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

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

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 Psycroptic are an Australian technical death metal band formed in Hobart, Tasmania in 1999. Mainstay members are the Haley brothers, drummer Dave Haley, Dave and guitarist Joe. Their lead vocalist, Jason Peppiatt, joined in 2004. In 2008 they ...

drummer Dave Haley for some live dates. The band's third album, ''Never Enough Snuff'', was released on May 15, 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. 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.

Band members

Current members

*Simon Dower –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

*Rob "Wog" Mollica –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

guitars The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

*Matt Wilcock – guitars * Dave Haley –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

*Joe Haley – guitars

Former members

*Jason Black – guitars *Derek Ackary – bass *David Abbott – guitars *Michael Colton – drums *Tim Aldridge – guitars , bass *Jason Kells – guitars *Justin Warnes – bass *Jason Dutton – drums *Craig Bailey – drums *Mark Shuliga – guitars *Euan Heriot – drums *Matt Rizzo – drums * Matt "Skitz" Sanders – drums *Grant Karajic – bass *Lance Lembrin – drums

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abramelin Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups from Melbourne Australian death metal musical groups