Abramelin

Biography :

Abramelin was an Australian death metal band, notable as one of the first bands of its kind in the country and one of the main influences on the development of Australian heavy metal music in the early 1990s. Members of this band have also featured in Blood Duster, The Berzerker, and Akercocke.


History :

Acheron :

Abramelin was formed in Melbourne in 1988 under the name Acheron by guitarist David Abbott. Simon Dower (vocals), Jason Black (guitar), Derek Ackary (bass) and Michael Colton (drums) comprised the rest of the group. Tim Aldridge replaced Black and the band recorded a demo called "Eternal Suffering" before Jason Dutton and Justin Wornes took the places of Colton and Ackary. French label Corpsegrinder Records released the EP "Deprived of Afterlife" in 1991 and a track from this release later appeared on the Dutch compilation album Appointment With Fear. Following the release of the EP, Dutton left Acheron. His replacements was Craig Bailey. 1992 saw David Abott depart Acheron. He was replaced for a short time by Jason Kells (member of Australian doom band diSEMBOWELMENT) who, after a short period was replaced by bass player for the similarly-aligned Necrotomy, Mark Schuliga. 1992 to 1994 saw Acheron tour with Carcass and support Morbid Angel and Pungent Stench. Bailey left in 1994 to be replaced on by Euan Heriot.

Almost immediately, the band discovered a conflict of interest in the name Acheron with an American black metal band. Inspired by Abramelin the Mage, a 14th century alchemist, the group took its new name.

Abramelin :

The first release under the name Abramelin was the EP Transgression from Acheron, after which Schuliga departed. Thrust Records, a subsidiary of Australian label Shock Records, issued the album Abramelin in 1995 but the CD was withdrawn from sale in Western Australia due to explicit lyrics dealing with sexual violence against children and necrophilia.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 called Earth, joined Abramelin at this time 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 his place in Abramelin for a brief time but after the break-up of Damaged he too was replaced by Matt Sanders.

Late in 1997, Abramelin featured at Metal for the Brain before beginning work on another album. Meanwhile, Spanish label Repulse Records picked up the debut for wider release but gave it almost no 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 was dormant as a live band. The second album Deadspeak was gradually recorded, originally with drums by Sanders although these were later re-recorded using a drum machine. Released in 2000 on Shock, Deadspeak featured only Dower on vocals and Aldridge performing all the music. With the live line-up of Dower, Aldridge, Rizzo, Matt Wilcock (guitar) and Grant Karajic (bass), Abramelin supported Cradle of Filth and again played at Metal for the Brain. Following this, however, the band disappeared once more. Further recording was rumoured but nothing has emerged. Wilcock moved on to Steel Affliction and The Berzerker, and is now with British black/death metal band Akercocke; Rizzo is again a member of Blood Duster.


Band Members :

Current Members :

Last Known :
* Simon Dower - Vocals
* Matt Wilcock - Guitar
* Tim Alridge - Guitar
* Grant Karajic - Bass
* Matt Rizzo - Drums

Former Members :

* Craig Bailey


Discography :

* Abramelin - Deprived of Afterlife (EP, 1991)
* Abramelin - Transgression from Acheron (EP, 1994)
* Abramelin - Abramelin (album, 1995)
* Abramelin - Deadspeak (album, 2000)