As you can probably imagine there are dozens of bands with the band name Morgue spanning the entire globe but this version is from France is possibly one of the more well known since they have released four albums previous to this latest offering and their second on this label. Like a lot of French extreme metal bands they don’t stick to what you would expect and this two piece who also have another act called Corrupter that they reside in, is no different. It is fair to say that Morgue is as dense as any death metal out there but they add such opaque darkness to their song writing that the songs have an almost industrial nihilism to them.

The intro sequence that starts the opening track ‘Upon The Altar’ is soaked in dread for about a minute before the annihilation begins. I really like the tone of this album, dark, foreboding and utterly barbaric. The speed is relentless in places as the abrasive almost blackened feathering to the guitar tenor is pernicious yet melodic. At times the music is eerie especially when the tempo drops but it is the inherent annihilation that will capture your attention. I also enjoyed the dips in pace to allow the song to unveil a much more sinister side that continues into ‘Doorways In Crimson Red’. Here the neck snapping pace rears up hugely, alongside that industrial tinge I mentioned. In fact parts of this album reminded me of Sweden’s Mass Worship and their humungous album ‘Portal Tombs’ released in 2022. Whilst that album has a more crust foundation it has similar ominousness as this one by Morgue.

Blasting in is ‘Blemish’ as that twisting, writhing and contorting style showcases a song oozing with malfeasance especially when they drop the pace. The intensity is insane here, the pacing going through a gamut of changes alongside the truly hideous and horrifying vocal style adopted. The brief drum fill intro to ‘Sacrificial Blood’ continues in the same vein, the terrorising guitar work is hooked into the industrial like oppression. I cannot overstate just how barbaric this album is, even when the songs dip in speed the sense of overarching dread is palpable. At times ferocious and always bludgeoning the band seems to have a knack of inflicting as much sonic damage as possible even when the pace is relatively slow.

‘Disobedience’ blasts in and here the song takes the listener down a virtual grindcore style due to its incessant velocity as the inhuman vocal tone rears up to add its own layer of unmitigated horror. I absolutely loved ‘Towards Complete Darkness’ which begins with rampant double kick work and an eerie guitar riff that had me thinking about Immolation and Incantation. The song is wholly pulverising and whilst not as quick as some tunes here its density is completely enveloping as a cracking riff break hurtles the song skywards in speed. That slowness pervades through ‘Sulphurous Fire’, a blackened death metal monstrosity that is starkly foreboding yet utterly brutalising on all fronts.

Closing the album is the doublet of ‘Death In Communion’ and Speculative Fall Of The Human Race’ as the former continues the slow pervading aura set down on ‘Sulphurous Fire’ but enhances it with deluges of kick drum work . The song is strewn with doom like tones, yet is crammed with uncompromising creepiness. The way it worms into your psyche is phenomenal as the song pivots into blasted territory about half way in, leaving the latter tune to close this awesome album. The hugely ominous guitar riff is dark and menacing, leading the song down a snare roll that ends with the song pausing briefly and shifting into that slow penetrating and abyssal devastation. The closer is truly monstrous on all fronts, the vocals unveiling their insidious roar and corruptive barbarity until the song switches in tempo in the latter half. Here the song has a much more frenzied style, highly controlled but morbidly crushing.

A stunning fifth album from France’s Morgue, one teeming with unrepentant horror and devastating desolation.

https://www.facebook.com/official.morgue

https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/close-to-complete-darkness