I guess you get it with every genre of music but I always find it strange how odd albums from seemingly underground bands go on to become so highly regarded. Dying Remains by Morta Skuld is such a case. You seldom hear anyone speak of the bands other albums or material but their debut has seen them forge a strong career in the Death Metal underground. These Milwaukee Metal maniacs have seen themselves amongst many a true line up and with good reason. Now we come to their seventh full length record, Creation Undone, put out by the ever reliable Peaceville Records, but does it have the staying power of the bands classic debut?
Opening up with We Rise We Fall the album shows off some big riffs and militant drumming. Powerful OSDM vibes further exude when the Thrash (almost early Sepultura) vocals come in. There are touches of the modern in the guitars too with certain riffs coming across as almost Slam. The End Of Reason is a little more simplistic I feel, and oftentimes more Thrash than Death Metal, it’s still pretty hard hitting but a bit of a detraction from such a strong opener. Painful Conflict brings more Thrash energy but turns up the Death Metal charm, the drums especially are a constant thundering beat, not to mention the more evil sounding riffs which are laced with a finer melody, dipping into that less brutal more Thrash territory. Amping up all the metallic fronts is Unforeseen Obstacles, which comes in like a savage punch, exactly what I was hoping for and expected from a band with the sort of legacy that Morta hold. The vocal hooks in this song somewhat remind me of Cannibal Corpse and that’s absolutely no bad thing, I will always retain that catchiness even in the most rampant Extreme Metal is a fantastic attribute.
Getting into the next most exciting track and the second half of the album we find Soul Piercing Sorrow. This song has maybe some of the best riffs on the record, honestly none of the instrumentation is overly complex but it kind of just works. It also holds some strong hooks and some classic OSDM chugging, powerful stuff. It would seem that this second half is where all the best stuff is hidden. Into Temptation plays with similar themes to its predecessor, but this time the drums become the star of the show, an absolute battering that is borderline Grind, truly brilliant. There does come that point though where I have to be a bit more critical. I have to ask the question, is this the best Death Metal or even Death Thrash I’ve ever heard? The answer is pretty blatantly no. I would say that tonally it goes above the generic bracket for sure, but it absolutely isn’t overly exciting. If the odd song dropped on in a playlist then you’d think, wow that’s pretty cool, but listening to song after song is a little bit of a drag at points. Take the song Oblivion for example, sure it’s solid Death Metal but by that late stage of the record you’ve kind of heard it all. The final song By Design is a genuinely great album closer, encapsulating all the best qualities of this album.
To sum it all up I would have to say that the album is a little bit of a departure from the classic debut in terms of sound. That is naturally to be expected but the whole album has a very ‘old band makes new album’ sound. Fans of later albums by the likes of Testament or Kreator will probably know the sort of vibe I’m talking about. Honestly that’s not really a negative, I actually love a lot of later albums by older bands. What I mean I guess is that sometimes that spark can be lost if you’re not already familiar with a bands classic work, so is Creation Undone the best place to jump onboard with Morta Skuld? Probably not. That said it still has some impressive impact, and I would certainly listen to it again, so I guess that’s pretty good praise.
(8/10 George Caley)
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