Formed in Merseyside in 2012, Corrupt Moral Altar have somehow managed to slip past my radar, given that it is my main base for gigging and music, I find this disturbing. Thankfully, when the review list came up and I saw their name on it, I knew I had to rectify the situation. Corrupt Moral Altar are a four-piece who specialise in very angry and aggressive sludge with elements of hardcore and grind added to the mix for good measure. With critically acclaimed demos under their belts already, the debut offering “Mechanical Tides” looks set to be an imposing release this year, so much so that Jeff Walker (Carcass, Smeg and the Heads etc) has leant his talents to the release and features on one of the tracks.
“Father Tongue” opens the album with a relentless onslaught. Its harsh, aggressive sound grabs you straight away and it doesn’t let up one bit. The furious drumming and buzz-saw like guitars combined with the screamed vocals set the tone for the album and the following track “Blood Harmony” keeps that theme going. Opening up with a colossal chugging riff, the slightly slower track still pounds away with intensity similar to that of Iron Monkey. The addition of synths in the backing the riffs add an eerie quality to the song, standing out as a contrast to the vocals which works quite well. “Die Glocke” features the talents of Jeff Walker and you can hear his influence. Its fast pace and dual vocals kick the track up giving it an almost punk-feel with all the ferocity of a Carcass track. “Line Check” keeps up this intense vibe and comes in with a huge groove which is perfect for headbanging along to or letting loose to in a pit. The simple riffs with the no-nonsense approach work brilliantly and even in the slower, half-time feel section towards the end of the track it’s still as in your face as the full pace bits.
“Wire Mother” follows up almost instantly and keeps the wall of noise coming. Its shifting rhythms and little riff fills add an extra touch to the song but don’t detract from the overall groove. Though it is only short, it still packs a punch. “Gin Dreams” starts off with a slow, heavily distorted intro which leads into more screams and droning riffs. Slower than the previous tracks, it only offers a brief reprieve from the pace, but not the intensity. The dark mood created by the song is helped along as it descends into static and feedback towards the end before trailing off into dissonant chords. The silence is short lived as “Closed Casket” blows the album wide-open again. Its fast paced onslaught of drums and riffs sounds a lot like Mistress, and the ‘Lords of all that is Wrong’ would certainly approve of the approach on this track. The chaos contained is backed up with gang shout vocals, a twisting guitar solo and thick riffs which hit hard and the following track, “Sweet Talk” keeps up this approach. The hardcore feel to it, created by the drums keeps the pace up and the vocals are screamed out with more energy than most hardcore bands can usually muster. Its upbeat feel is a welcome change but it doesn’t last long as “Admit Defeat” comes round. Starting off cleanly in all terms – instruments and singing, it quickly slows the pace down when the dirty distortion kicks in, but the clean vocals remain, almost drowned out at times by the band. The switching from clean to distorted continues throughout the song and takes the edge off the album slightly, but “Garland Greene” brings it back as it explodes in with a drum roll and guitar attack. The punk-feel to it brings the pace up but the intensity of some of the earlier tracks and the in-your-face feel gets the attention back on what has worked brilliantly for the rest of the album. As the song goes on, the intensity starts to build up again which results in a blast-beat fuelled outro.
“River Blind” keeps the intensity of the ending which precedes it and the album is back up to full speed once more. The furious assault created by the relentless drums and screamed vocals over the intense guitars brings the aggression back to maximum levels. Halfway through the song it trails off slightly for a more melodic section but the dissonant feel returns in the breakdown which leads back into the full on approach once more. “Black Chapter” is the shortest track on the album and it starts with a clean guitar section and synths in the background which only seems to act as an intro for the final track, “Insect Politicians” which tears right through the ending of the previous track with a full on, almost grind-like attack. The furious pace and intensity brings everything on the album together – powerful grooves, colossal riffs, intensity and aggression and packages it into just under three minutes. As a closer, it works brilliantly and it rounds the album off well.
“Mechanical Tides” is a forty-three minute slab of North-West hate filled sludge and apart from one or two moments, it’s a fantastic debut offering and if the band keep this intensity up and match it live in their tour in late July, September and again at Damnation Festival in November, there is nothing holding them back from reaching the notoriety and status as legends like Iron Monkey, Mistress and Raging Speedhorn.
(8/10 Fraggle)
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