Scream Bloody Leprosy! Isn’t it bizarre when you look at a photo of a band and assume that they are some obscure quantity from twenty-plus years ago who you’ve never heard of. In the case of California’s Morfin, despite their very accurate late 80s look, they are in fact hairy, leathered and very much in the now. Good on ’em. Rounded off with cover art bearing more than a slight resemblance to Cannibal Corpse’s debut, a lesson in gory brutal death metal seemed to be the order of the day. While this is partially what we get, ‘Inoculation’ is musically more of a Death-shaped package full of zombie entrails and infectious disease.
‘Evil Within’ emerges with dark synth like something straight from a video-nasty before late 80s death metal takes command of the scene. It’s heavy, plundering and topped off with vocals which are very similar to Chuck Schuldiner’s early efforts. Tentative riffs contrast with shredding ones, while double bass consistently underpins the scene. Perhaps more than anything, the opener reminds me of ‘Leprosy’-era Death – especially the solo section and its end where those vocals kick back in and I’m left thinking ‘This is Chuck, isn’t it????’. Track two adds to and builds on the few blast-beats so far heard, which eschew any technical leaps of the past twenty-five years; further cementing Morfin’s old-style approach to the genre. As well as throaty roars warning of the ‘Dark Creators’, we get bouncy riffs, ripping tempo changes (‘Lethal Progeny’) and lead-work which sounds pretty much lifted from 1988.
Okay then, for more than 90% of the opening part of the album it is a story of Death, Death and more Death, with Morfin focusing on dark thrashy atmospheres rather than relentless brutality. On occasion though, other influences do come into the frame. Most uniquely would be the brief bass piece ‘Primordial’, which goes for a Cliff Burton/'(Anesthesia)…’ approach, while less surprisingly, ‘Inoculation’ carries a bit of Obituary in its early stages. Even with the latter example however, it is just a brief departure from the band’s true figure of worship. For me, this is far from a bad thing – especially as the early era of Death is my favourite – BUT it does become a bit difficult to reconcile why I am listening to a homage instead of the real deal. The likes of ‘Viral Mutation’ and ‘Brain Control’ are pretty good but don’t deviate much from what you’ve come to expect or, it goes without saying, match Evil Chuck’s output.
When the end of the album rolls around with a musically faithful rendition of ‘Leprosy’ itself, everything you already knew from the previous 38-and-a-half minutes is confirmed beyond doubt. Overall, I think ‘Inoculation’ is a cool and highly listenable death metal album (how could it fail to be with such inspiration?) but I guess it depends on how much of a Chuck purist you are. Where other ‘tribute acts’ – like those devoted to the Swedish death metal masters – generally source their ideas from at least two primary names, Morfin’s choice to zero in on such a unique band does seem a little odd and possibly limiting.
(7/10 Jamie)
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