Tuesday, January 28, 2014

HAEMORRHAGE - Morgue Sweet Home (2002)

Storming the Princeton-Plainsboro Mortuary



Fuck the Commerce – this legendary live show was the place I bought the „Morgue Sweet Home” cd album, another collection of nice and pleasant offal in Haemorrhage career. After four long years of releasing excellent gore slab “Anatomical Inferno” and several smaller desserts, crazy Spaniards managed to decompose and record the next portion of gorgeous main dish once again. The main question is: did Luisma and company maintain the masterly level of the predecessor? All right, let’s back from inferno to the morgue…

In this case Haemorrhage repeated the number of decompositions. For the start one thing is sure as shooting: the music style is still the same, but comparing to the previous album, there are more faster tempos I guess. Speed is one thing, but the production is also important. Here I must confess it isn’t as good work as killing tunes of the third album. Maybe Haemorrhage knowingly decided about such production, but in my opinion everything is untidy with poor realization of drum work, the powerful and more devastating sound is essential condition: drums simply disappear during guitars hurricane. I wrote about untidiness in production, however it is not a drawback. “Morgue” has a special charm for sure and everything reminds me old-school grindcore/death metal releases. Also structures of the songs are different here, because these incredible memorable catchy guitar riffs known from “Anatomical Inferno” are gone almost entirely. Of course I didn’t expect songs for Eurovision, but this time music of Haemorrhage is like a trance. Pathological trance…  To continue writing about ‘new’ elements I have to point out on song number thirteen. I will write about this later. Vo-kills of Lugubrious didn’t change as well his “singing” is a real accomplishment in this gore sauce.

Mesmerized by the stench of rot… Yes, I wrote about this trance which is strengthened by wild and butcherly production. Fortunately music doesn’t take the listener to the kingdom of boredom, which is the first advantage. The musicians skillfully use tempo changes from blast to slowdowns tunes. Even I didn’t find here such highlight tracks like “Enshrouded in Putrilage”, “Putritorium” or “Set the Morgue on Fire”, however I can say there are some songs worthy of note. The first killer, prefaced by short intro in extremely gore vein, called “Mortuary Riot” is the essence what I expect here to listen to. Some mid-tempo on the start and after seventy seconds the surgery begins. Simply I call this not other than sonic devastation of the blood vascular system. Yes, definitely special feeling on the beginning… The music able to stir the listener’s blood… What do I want more? Only next sonic hurricane: its name “Oozing Molten Gristle” – this is standard, typical stuff coming from this performance, so only pure gore grind ravage runs from my speakers out! The next third track is probably in the same vein like “I’m a Pathologist” from the previous album. I mean the next ‘creed’ of the band. “Midnight Mortician” is the name of this decomposition which brings another pleasant moment of morbid rapture. In turn “Exhuming Impulse” is characterized by very interesting group of riffs and fine slowdowns just like the next “Unlock the Morgue” is like a trip to old Swedish stuff, this atmosphere, this guitar work… Listening carefully to this stuff I can assure that the end of the album has two faces. So as the first is excellent, the second is rather not thought out in my opinion. All right, let’s start to get to know the first one: it is begun by “The Forensic Requiems” which lasts five minutes. Can you believe it? It is not a ballad with clean vocals of course, listening to the guitar work one term comes to my mind: Sweden and their excellent bands from the beginning of the nineties, from the other hand this track is correct for “Anatomical Inferno”. This song is put together with the next instrumental “Dirge for the Sick” which is simply a tribute for the old-school Swedish bands like Gorement or Dismember. The dirge is closed up by rain and thunder sounds, really good work on the end of the album. On the end? No, because there is one more track “Intravenous Molestation on Obstructionist Arteries (O-pus IV)”. By the way, truly beautiful title, but I have one question for the band: why did you put this song here? In my opinion it disturbs doubtless sick yet enjoyable atmosphere from “The Forensic Requiems” /”Dirge for the Sick”. Look out for “Emetic Cult”, “Grume” and the next album “Apology for Pathology” - “Intravenous Molestation…” is placed in the middle of these albums and it really works. So, as you probably understand, this is the second rotten face, the worse face. 

To sum all the things up, “Morgue Sweet Home” isn’t album as good as “Anatomical Inferno” and two next releases (“Apology”, “Hospital Carnage”). But one thing is sure: it still kicks my goregrind ass and I won’t call it bad or weak album. No! It has its own pathological (as always!) charm, for sure there is more omnipresent dirt at expense of anatomical harshness or rawness. Of course, for the modern believers of sterile productions this album is like a week in Justin Bieber’s life without a hairstylist. As compared with Haemorrhage third album, sometimes my thoughts run into old Swedish bands which I treat as another advantage. So everything seems to be just great, but… there is only one anxiety… there, deep in the dark, one person is lurking… his name… Dr. Obnoxious, surgeon of the dead… Watch it!!!

90/100
-Tlacaxipehualiztli

(previously written for Encyclopaedia Metallum, on October, 2011, now modified a bit)

No comments:

Post a Comment