Deep from the thriving darkest Indonesian underground or perhaps the depths of hell itself we have Masakre a noisy quartet with deathly crust at their heathen hearts. The group’s second EP Infernal Praise did as suggested in 2021 with 2 cover tracks apiece in praise of Hellhammer, Sepultura and Mayhem so this should give you some indication before you make yourself comfortable for listen to Morbid Extinction. Not too comfortable though as this extended version of the original one sided 12” vinyl has been boosted to 10 tracks in just under 20 minutes and you may feel like you have ants in your pants.
A couple of things may well surprise though, yeah we all have images of studios in places like Indonesia literally held together by gaffer tape but the production on this is suitably brutal and up-front. The second is that despite the grindcore like running time the band are not all out annihilating speed bastards but temper things down with some ‘morbid’ tempered doom adding some crawling chaos to proceedings. Punky lurching d-beat rolls in on opener ‘Abhorrent Dreams’ and the continues with some of those slow grooving rolls. Vocalist Dirga throws out some rottweiler like growls with a bit of reverb making them all the more lethal as we bounce into ‘Merciless Death’ and charge around like a shot rhino flattening everything in its armour-plated path. With effective carnage rattling around numbers like Inhuman Atrocities, this is primitive musical genocide but its well-played primitivism and can actually hold a tune. Later as the extra bonus 5 tracks come in at very slightly lower volume there are shrill bursts of feedback but not only do they not sound out of place, its almost as though you would expect them to be there.
Spirit, enthusiasm and tributes to the olden scene are all held in high regard here and this could appeal to both the metal and punk crowds as we shift from passages that could be from early Entombed to ones that would not be out of place on a Discharge or Doom (UK) album. Be prepared to lose your place as the tracks blur and chug away into each other and the vocals become all the more deranged and also watch out as listening to this 3 times on repeat, as I just have, is going to have you in danger of serious injury. I bet their shows are a real riot. ‘Morbid Extinction’ isn’t going to change the world but if it’s a short blast of old-school brutality you are looking for it will certainly deliver that.
(7/10 Pete Woods)
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