
While the band sounds legitimately Finnish; the production of the songs has become the perfect formulation as they anciently evoke the term “old-school death metal” in its righteous form. The opening track ‘Smut Club (For the Chosen Scum)’ recreates the raw atmosphere of bands like Funebre, Disgrace and Purtenance.
There seems to be more emphasis on the mid-tempo and faster paces with the drums occasionally utilizing blast beats on the following song, ‘Panspermic Blight’, which emphasizes the transitions into faster tempos. The guttural growls are morbid, evil and fit perfectly with the putrid riffs.
The brutality is noted in songs like ‘Menagerie of Grotesque Trophies’. Morbific‘s rotten riffs and crushing drumming beats leave you impressed by the heavy tone of the bass guitar backed by the organic drums. The refinement of the compositional quality is enhanced from the debut and the follow-up album where the thick guitar distortion makes the music sound cavernous and raw.
The songs fall between your classic death metal: there are some moments when the guitars deliver cavern morbid driven riffs in tracks like ‘Promethean Mutilation’ and ‘Womb of Deathless Deterioration (Trapped in the Essence of Putrescence)’ which are the definition of how Morbific molds its rotten grooves and abrasive riffing then festers into an eerie atmosphere.
The album includes one interlude song ‘Stifling Stagnant Reek’ which conveys the morbid, cavernous style of early death metal. The rotten slab of Finnish underground does fit the gloom of the music, given the band’s organic musicianship on full display. The guitar department unfolds in high fidelity from the slowdown creepy intro on ‘Crusading Necrotization’ which surely offers something for fans of Convulse and Rippikoulu, to the blistering pace of the drums.
Five years ago, one had foreseen the high standard and the songwriting quality of Jusa Janhonen (bass, vocals), Onni Väkeväinen (drums) and Olli Väkeväinen (guitars) when the trio suddenly appeared from the underground depths of Finnish scene. Therefore, Morbific has represented itself as one of the highest calibers of Finland though this a downright old school death metal that meets such criteria in the contemporary age.
‘Hydraulic Slaughter’ is bloody rotten and brutal. The vocals on this track probably sound very different from the rest of the songs. The alien-like growls and the guttural atmosphere of the dense riffing use a lot of reverb. Especially, the bass guitar and those hammering drums provide an excellent backing to the spewing guttural filth. The third album is all about riffs that create a solid and classic-fashioned feel and are outstandingly featured on ‘From Inanimate Dormancy’.
The riffs prowl and fill the vibe with rotten stench and the drums mold straightforward brutality sounding loud and energetic offering aggressive death metal tunes and punishing riffs balanced with the rattling drums. ‘Bloom of the Abnormal Flesh (A Travesty of Human Anatomy)’ features the technicality of the guitars. However, Morbific provides a dark particular aesthetic and the drums range from mid-tempo then lean towards double bass kicks and blast beats; opting for pure cavernous heaviness that surely engraves the old school method.
While the final track ‘Slithering Decay’ starts with abrasive riffing and pummeling drums that evolve into catchy grooves. The pace of the blistering drums is very close to the opening songs on the album emphasizing sheer heaviness.
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REVIEW SCORE
8.8 | Morbific’s third studio album ‘Bloom of the Abnormal Flesh’ deepens its approach to sound identical to the early wave of Finnish death metal bands. If you consider yourself a fan of Scandinavian death metal then you should own this record. |
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