Morbific – Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh

Morbific have become a strong fixture within the modern Finnish Death Metal scene and for good reason. The band consists of a trio of relatively young musicians that are only devoted to the most putrid, filthy form of Death Metal imaginable. This was already the case since their first album and this stream of heinous music has continued to be present with their third album, ‘Bloom of the Abnormal Flesh’.

Far from being inspired by the likes of their countrymen, who gained fame in the 90s by producing some of the moodiest, melodic Death Metal – Morbific are much more inclined to follow the path laid by bands such as Autopsy, Rottrevore and Undergang. In other words, a form of Death Metal much more characterized by what sounds like a sewer unleashing a steady stream of grime down our ear canals. In a musical context, this translates to thick, down-tuned chunky guitar riffs and bass hooks that reverberate and serve to pummel your skull into submission.

Each tracks oozes a constant drip of disgust and groove, that is equally rancid and yet catchy as it can be. There is no doubt Morbific have used these years to finetune their craft into making some of the most odious, crunchy Death Metal imaginable. There is no desire for fanciful displays of technicality here or even the mere thought of something resembling a sound that can be characterized as either clean or polished. This is simply the aural equivalent of a demented caveman bashing your head over and over again with a club until nothing remains other than your squashed splattered remains. It even has that Reifert sloppy drumming that is so prevalent and necessary in a genre like this. The production helps drive the foul smelling atmosphere, giving life to the gruesome guitar tone that stays throughout the whole album.

If you weren’t a fan of Morbific’s prior output, this won’t change your mind either. The Finnish trio has stuck their guns into putting out yet another album that is more concerned about remaining faithful to its forebearers rather than anything new. While this won’t revolutionize the genre, it is a solid slab for those of us who enjoy their Death Metal to be coated in a thick layer of disgust. (Dzor)

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If you happen to be a fan of Morbific you never have to really wait long before you’ll have to very long for something of the band to surface. ‘Squirm Beyond The Mortal Realm’ might be from 2022 already, but in the mean time the band treated their followers on a few short-players and on top of that, the band has been touring and gigging a lot. Taking all that in consideration, it might be even surprising that this Finnish threesome found the time to write and record a new full-length. But, here it is, Morbific’s third full-length album ‘Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh’, presented by the same trio of labels as last time.

The previous record, the aforementioned ‘Squirm Beyond The Mortal Realm’ was received with slightly less acclaim than its predecessor, mainly due the rather striking shift in sound. Earlier, Morbific sounded like a murky Death Metal band with a thoroughly muffed sound, adding much to the overall experience of Impetigo-flavoured Death Metal bonanza. The rather “thin” and even somewhat compressed sounding follow-up was quite a culture shock and although I really enjoyed that one, admitted, I needed quite a few spins to get used to it myself.

Whether it was a one-off, a miscalculation or whether the guys were shocked by the response is not clear to me, but the following short-players saw the band return to their tried-and-true gory-Death Metal identity. And, as could have been expected, ‘Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh’ is a continuation of these more recent recordings. Morbific is back into their festering glory. I honestly liked ‘Squirm Beyond The Mortal Realm’, but it is clear that this is where the band fits best. Never have I been much of a fan of the ultra-low tuned guitars of those “cavernous” Death Metal, as it always feels like it is mainly used to disguise a lack of overall talent in song writing, Morbific stays just enough away from these territories. The guitars are definitely sounding low and have much in common with those cavernous Death Metal peers, but the dynamics the band brings to the table makes their music much more alluring.

Besides, the riffs on offer, especially on this third album, are much more than building blocks of a wall of sound. Their texture do have something to offer for those who are into old Finnish Death Metal bands like Abhorrence and Convulse. Listen to a song like ‘Crusading Necrotization’ for example, you can hear an apparent echo of classic, early 90’s Death Metal. That song is clearly based on Heavy Metal song writing structures and enough technical complexity that makes comparisons to bands like Gorefest, Sinister, early Morgoth and even Brutality for instance more than evident.

Looking back in the band’s discography, you can clearly hear the evident progression the band has made over the years. Having heard this new record a couple of time now and taking the steps backwards, Morbific’s debut album sounds just like a debut does: a bit naive and above all rather straight forward and the second is rather experimental in its overall sound and atmosphere. ‘Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh’ is definitely the band’s best and most mature (urgh) album to date, an album in which both experience and passion collides in a much convincing way. (FelixS)