I got this directly from Muntah Darah, the vocalist of Lavatory, together with the T-shirt carrying the artwork by Desmond Sia. That alone makes this one of those releases that means a little more to me than something I simply picked up from a distro. I’ve known about Lavatory for years and have followed what has been happening across the Malaysian underground, so having this land in my hands directly from the man behind the vocals was a nice touch.
The first thing that caught my attention was the artwork. Desmond Sia has been involved with plenty of underground metal artwork over the years and knows exactly how to make something look filthy without turning it into some overworked digital mess. His work fits Lavatory perfectly, and seeing the same artwork on the T-shirt makes it one of those shirts that actually belongs with the release rather than just being merchandise for the sake of having merchandise.
‘Morbid Terror’ and ‘Transgression’ brings together the two releases that established Lavatory’s name. ‘Transgression’ came first in 2012, originally released through Slaughterhouse Records on CD and Morbid Invasion Records on cassette. ‘Morbid Terror’ followed in 2014 through Pulverised Records, giving the band their first full-length and putting their name into the wider underground outside Malaysia. The new edition gathers both releases together, giving us 17 tracks from those early years.
Lavatory’s Death Metal has always had that filthy old-school character that I personally look for. There is plenty of Swedish influence in the guitar sound, but they never come across as a band simply trying to recreate Entombed or Dismember. The riffs have that dirty chainsaw edge, but there is also a strong punk and crust influence in the way some of the songs move. The vocals are suitably rotten and the whole thing has that underground recording character where you can still hear the instruments as a band rather than a collection of perfectly separated studio tracks.
‘Transgression’ has the more primitive feel of the two. You can hear a band finding its feet, but there is already a clear idea of what Lavatory wanted to sound like. The songs are short enough to get straight to the point, with the guitars doing most of the damage while the drums keep things moving between the faster attacks and heavier sections. It reminds me of the period when Death Metal was still dangerous because bands were taking the basic formula and making it their own instead of worrying about sounding technically impressive.
‘Morbid Terror’ is where Lavatory really settled into their own skin. The longer running time gives the band more room to work with different tempos and riff patterns, and there is more weight behind the slower passages. Songs like ‘Death Is Imminent’ show that they don’t need to be flying at full speed to sound heavy, while ‘Morbid Terror’ and ‘Miserable Life’ carry that faster, more aggressive side. The album doesn’t feel like it was written around showing off. It is about riffs, atmosphere and getting the job done.
The lineup on ‘Morbid Terror’ was Muntah Darah on vocals, Jahannam and Ben Lavatory on guitars, Zack on bass and Aie Pelesit behind the drums. The album was recorded at I Seek Music Studio and originally came out through Pulverised Records, which is another nice connection between the Malaysian underground and Singapore, considering how important Pulverised has been in putting Southeast Asian Extreme Metal onto an international platform.
What I like about hearing these two releases together is that you can simply put the disc on and follow the band’s early journey without having to dig around for two separate releases. ‘Transgression’ has that hungry early Lavatory sound, while ‘Morbid Terror’ feels like the band had become more comfortable with what they were doing. Neither needs to be dressed up with fancy descriptions. This is Death Metal built from the old ingredients and played with the kind of attitude that makes sense when you come from the underground.
There is also something satisfying about seeing material from the Malaysian scene given this kind of physical treatment years after the original releases. A lot of underground records disappear once the first pressing is gone, especially releases from this part of the world. Having ‘Morbid Terror’ and ‘Transgression’ together in one package gives these recordings another life, and for collectors of Southeast Asian Death Metal, that alone makes this worth paying attention to.
For me, the fact that Muntah Darah passed this to me personally, along with the Desmond Sia T-shirt, makes it an even better addition to the collection. The music is what matters, but these little connections are part of what collecting underground metal has always been about for me. You remember where something came from, who gave it to you and the people behind the record. Years later, those details become part of the story too.
