The Romans occupied these lands from around 50 A.D but little is known of this area beforehand other than it was on the territorial edge of the Silures, a war-like tribe known historically for fighting the Romans tooth and nail.
NON ATROCITATE, NON CLEMENTIA MUTABATUR
In the words of Tacitus: 'The tribe was changed neither by cruelty nor by clemency'...
So if there's one thing we can take from the Silures, it's that they were metal AF.
That attitude is the guiding principle behind Abhorrent.
My name is Alex;
I am Abhorrent and Abhorrent is me.
I've been building guitars since 2014.
I discovered Iron Maiden at 12 then quickly became obsessed with thrash, black and death metal.
I started playing guitar at 13 and dreamt of being in a metal band, although I soon realised that rural Gloucestershire would put an end to that fantasy.
While studying art at college I found that I had a talent for drawing metal logos. Before long I was regularly creating band artwork, creating flyers for local gigs and coding myspace layouts for artists I had become friendly with.
I went on to study graphic design at University and graduated into the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash. I worked part-time contracts before ending up in construction to pay for my petrol and energy drinks.
There I discovered I had an aptitude for carpentry which I turned into a career over the following decade.
Fast forward to 2014, by this point I had amassed a decent knowledge of joinery. Fed up with the pickups in my old RG550, I decided I would attempt to make it a new one-pickup scratch plate. I succeeded and in doing so ignited a flame and asked THE question:
What if I tried building a guitar?
A month later I had built a bright green super Strat
made from an oak worktop cutout. Needless to say, it was an awful piece of shit and although built with zero knowledge, it did kindle a flame.
Within the year, I had converted a disused pig cot where I was living, fitted it out as a makeshift workshop and proceeded to learn and build my first proper guitars.
Five long years followed, many guitars were built and so many more were never finished.
After some major life events and loosing my little pig cot workshop, I went through a period of rebuilding. Sporadic luthiery followed and most importantly;
the consolidation of my thoughts.
I had previously gone under the highly un-original moniker of 'AC Guitars' which has since been usurped by another.
However, plans were hatched by night in dimly lit rooms and by the winter of 2019 I had settled on the name:
ABHORRENT.
a singular statement, a name like a face tattoo.
I was set to build a brand that was THE definition
of my taste in music and furthermore build guitars that aligned with that vision.
The first statement of this was to be the ORIGIN
Two prototypes were built and with the help of my good friend Joe RIP,
I set upon the quest to get my guitars out into the world physically and visually.
Social media pages were created, Photos were taken and plans were made...
Then COVID19 happened.
Alas, wheels that had been put into motion could NOT be stopped, the global pestilence could only delay the inevitable.
By 2023 Abhorrent was back; taking on commissions, designing new shapes and sharpening spear tips.
2024 marked the advent of Abhorrent becoming a full time concern and with a further two years of obsessive toil, it has grown from a seed to a living breathing entity of it's own.
At time of writing, over twenty shapes have come into existence, with a core ten shapes that have been refined. Completed guitars under the Abhorrent banner number over sixty and have been shipped to a dozen different countries.
From the main stage of Bloodstock to underground venues across the USA and Europe and with a social media following exceed 110k...
September 2026, the month I received the keys to my new workshop, 700sqf to expand operation into and push Abhorrent to the next level...
