Back on the slab and casting musical Y shaped incisions, everyone’s favourite revolting death metal surgeons return with their first full length album since 2015 release ‘Skull Grinder’. There has been one replacement since that outing with Greg Wilkinson the newest operator of the buzzing bass saw and although our medical deviants are not getting any younger, they certainly are not settling down any and sound just as rotten as they did since forming like a particularly nasty scab way back in 1987. Indeed, half the line-up, the aforementioned bassist and Chris Reifert impressed no end earlier in the year with their debut Static Abyss platter of grinding splatter but this is no doubt what the fans are ravenous for, should they be triumphant in their morbidity? Not half!
There is actually a really good variation to the group’s sound here and that can be heard as one presses play and gets ribs splayed to the first three tracks. It’s probably no surprise that ‘Stab The Brain’ is an all out batterer of the cranium and absolutely bludgeons the skull with meaty death licks, squealing guitar solo and absolutely sick churning vocals. By comparison ‘Final Frost’ chills with slow lumbering and cadaverous doom. Proving that speed is not necessary to bring might to the table this rancid flare shuffling peels skin with precision and plops internal organs out to be weighed before a sudden mad and frantic deathly dash intrudes like a particularly rancid smell as lingering gasses are released. Lovers of slow and fast combined will get best of both worlds here. Then (and this is kind of a one off) ‘The Voracious One’ summons a break in the embalming room as someone lights a bong, well its good air-freshener, I guess. Stoner grooves are pumped through the vents man and anything not quite dead will be sitting up hoping to get it passed their way for a hit. This pungent bouncer should weed out those alive and those not quite nicely and when Reifert exhales his toke you can practically feel his brain exploding.
So having despatched these treasures back in their eternal drawers it is time to see what’s in the other 8 caskets. Naturally we lurch between death and doom all the way down. ‘Born In Blood’ is a serial killer blasted to pieces by law enforcement agencies. Church Of Misery fans will love the doomy intro, PCP freaks will love the frenzied rush as this beast refuses to die despite multiple concussions hitting from the drum kit and barrelling through the chest. The ‘Flesh Strewn Temple’ has been invaded by a scalpel wielding clown by the sound of it, slewed and carnivalesque melody play with the senses and take us off on a not so merry-go-round of death.
The good thing about all this is that every track has some semblance of identity, sure further down the line we get the short all-out attacks such as Knife Slice Axe Chop with its neanderthal carnage spree. There’s some great flailing solos and some utterly morbid bass lines during the duration and Reifert sounds utterly demented. There were no lyrics provided with our promo but I am sure they make very interesting reading. If song titles like the punky pukey ‘Maggots In The Mirror’ and the concluding ‘Your Eyes Will Turn To Dust’ don’t bring vile visions of your favourite Lucio Fulci films to your shattered psyche you are obviously in the wrong place.
Yep ‘Morbidity Triumphant’ has everything you could wish for and a little bit more. Whoever returned Autopsy’s licenses to practice made the biggest mistake since Herbert West was given access the Miskatonic University and now these ghouls have been unleashed once more, death will never be the same.
Needless to say the video clip below is NSFW, Killjoy would have approved!
(8.5/10 Pete Woods)
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