Abdullah’s bloodless doom was once so measured and numbing, you could practically feel your heart slowing when the band played, as if you were listening to them in a meat locker. But on its latest demo, Abdullah downshifts again with pulse-quickening death rock that further excavates its punk roots.

Last time out, Abdullah beat the stuffing out of the Misfits’ “Hybrid Moments.” This go-round, they give similar treatment to GBH’s “Transylvanian Perfume,” taking even more cues from their hardcore forebears with gang vocal choruses and revved-up riffs.

There are still plenty of touchstones to Abdullah’s crippling crawl of old; the band sounds like it’s dipped in tar on “Seven Doors of Death,” an airless dirge with arcing guitars and lyrics that read as if they were written in charcoal. But even that one gets all loud and sweaty by song’s end, as will you.

This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 6, 2004.