Aborted in Tokyo
It was 11 years since Aborted last played in Japan. But what a return this was! Pure carnage!
Aborted at Cyclone, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan on 19th January 2026
In 2015, Aborted toured Japan with an insane death metal show that got me hooked on this band. We didn’t know it then, but it would take them 11 years to return to Japan. But what a return it was when Aborted came back to show us how extreme metal is done.
Aborted is an extreme metal band which largely lives in the death metal and grindcore space. But, unlike too many other bands in that space, Aborted successfully combines full-on, loud and heavy extreme metal with terrific songwriting. The band’s most recent album, “Vault of Horrors”, came out in 2024.
Aborted took the stage at Cyclone in Shibuya following several opening acts, including the terrific Indian outfit Gutslit and French band Warside. Aborted live is always pure carnage. It is sweaty mayhem from start to finish. This evening in Tokyo, the band put on an unhinged, off-the-rails death metal performance of the best kind.
Sven de Caluwé, who founded the band in Belgium in 1995, is an insane frontman. As some of our readers may remember, Sven also sings for Bent Sea, the grindcore band featuring Megadeth’s Dirk Verbeuren (a former Aborted member) and Napalm Death’s Shane Embury. His intense vocal style was matched by his stage presence at this much-anticipated performance. It was a busy and sweaty stage show.
In the current touring version of Aborted, Sven is joined by guitarists Ian Jekelis and Daníel Máni Konráðsson and fill-in drummer Siebe Hermans. As has been the case in recent years, the band tours without a live bass player. The show consisted of on-fire songs from the band’s career, including bangers such as “Dreadbringer”, “Retrogore”, “Brotherhood of Sleep”, “Infinite Terror”, “Death Cult” and “The Shape of Hate”. Face-melting greatness in musical form!
Let’s hope it doesn’t take Aborted another decade until they are back on tour in Japan.
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