Abaddon

The concept of Abaddon was first spawned in the mind of one, Jignesh “Jiggy” Khatri (bass), formerly of thrash metal outfit, Krucifix. Having an intense desire to create more extreme and technical music, he employed the use of fellow Krucifix members, Rene Beckles (guitar) and Jalon Ramkissoon (drums). At the time, Kristofer Malcolm, was also considered to be a member.

It was at the June 2005 Acoustic Show held at Bravo Bravo Sports Bar (R.I.P.) in Chaguanas that Jiggy decided to recruit Satyros frontman, Christian Persad (vocals), after hearing Satyros’ acoustic death metal performance. Jiggy, having known Christian for four years prior, had known of Christian’s ‘talent’, being ‘fortunate’ to hear Christian mumbling to himself and growling at the sky every time they met.

After very little coercion by Christian, Satyros guitarist and Rene’s brother, Ronnie Beckles (guitar) was also welcomed to the fold. Jiggy had to be the bearer of bad news to Kris, who took the news of his ousting surprisingly well. In December 2005, the band had it’s first official practice. At the time, the band was nameless and encountered many bumps along the road in terms of songwriting and practising. It was in July 2006 however, that the band was given the opportunity to open a show (Cosmic Transgression) in Nocker’s San Fernando for Hard Local Productions. With this in mind, practice became more intense and the band hastily chose the name ABADDON in order to be put on the bill for Cosmic Transgression. The name ABADDON corresponds to the Greek ‘Apollyon’ and translates into ‘Angel of the Abyss’ or simply, ‘the Abyss’. It is also the Hebrew word for Satan as ABADDON is considered to be the ruler of the 7th hierarchy of demons. The band uses the name in the context of ‘the Abyss’ as opposed to the personified form or the Devil.

In terms of lyrical content, no allusions to Satan are made. In fact, the songs can be considered to be ‘fucked up love songs’ as they are usually about lost love and death; the only thing that Christian knows about…apart from pornography and Chinese food. As for the music, although it is somewhat death metal, it is mainly enhanced by the jazz influence of Rene and the neo-classical sensibilities of Ronnie. The dexterity of the rhythm section of Jalon and Jiggy solidifies the lethal combination. The vocals range from traditional death metal growls to clean singing along the veins of 70’s progressive rock.