The Coffinshakers: Addicted to the Filth
Name:
Morbus Chron. Subject of interest: “Sleepers in the Rift”. Country: Sweden. Genre:
ancient death metal. Status: debutants. Releasing date: 2011. Thus, is
everything clear in this case? Well, it took me three bloody years to get it,
but finally (on August, 2014) sleepers knocked at my door. Incipiently, maybe
during first or second listen, I treated them as unwelcome guests, just the
album was nothing special to me. Definitely it wasn’t a love at the first sight
however I didn’t put the album on the shelf and forgot about it. I couldn’t.
Hard to define, but the album was emanating with some kind of sick captivating
energy and my senses started to succumb. In one word, sleepers cast a spell on
me. And it seems to be an undying love…
Starting
off with the music, there is one thing that doesn’t let me focus on the inside
of the sleepers. Yes, the front cover. The splendid work of Raul Gonzales.
Definitely it reminds me of all these memorable pictures from the past. With no
band’s logo (for the debut crew, quite curious move I guess…), it is very
interesting invitation into the depths of the album. Well, musically the debut
doesn’t offer the long meeting as the entirety clocks in thirty-five minutes only.
The final product has been exchanged into the sound by the band itself and
Nicke Andersson. This famous character is also responsible for recording and
mixing as well. The effect is just perfect because the album sounds both
juicily and… putridly. Interesting fact is that sleepers have been recorded in
our present times, on the other hand the sounds didn’t miss a primitive
grossness, vulgarity and bestial cruelty… Yes, the album is just cruel, and in
this mixture of sounds it is quite easy to say where the influences are taken
from. On the start I wrote ancient death, so let me say: the times of Nihilist
or two first Entombed albums plus early Death and Autopsy. Well, the picture is
complete right now, additionally woven by Morbus Chron’s own visions.
Luckily no
one-dimensional track is served here, as the songwriting is supported by their
talent and skills. Generally there is no weak song or any needful fragment,
compositions are just well-thought-out. The patterns were given, although the
Swedes aren’t copycats and bring in some sick melodic layers in the structures.
For the most part they offer just catchy guitar riffs, sometimes it becomes a
semi-lead demonstrations (“The Hallucinating Dead”, “Lidless Coffin”) being a
base of the song. They can perfectly dose both slow and fast parts and it can
be easily heard in every track. It makes that all the running time passes
without any sign of fatigue. And even the influences may suggest rather not
complicated and to the bone music, more technical aspect of the music is
audible as well, just take a listen to “Hymns to a Stiff” or “Ways of Torture”
especially in the second part. Musicians also took care about some additional
flavor things, as sounds of thunder, bells and heartbeats have been put into
compositions. The overall effect is strengthened: the atmosphere of awe and
filth crawling out from every album’s corner. Speaking of the vocals, two
persons are responsible for that, both guitarists Edde and Robba as the booklet
says, bringing another element to this dismaying puzzle. Definitely in the vein
of their kinsman L-G Petrov and the killing US duo in the persons of Chuck
Schuldiner and Chris Reifert, they carry a verbal annihilation. These vocal
terrors creating the overwhelming agony and the undead pestilence is a lethal
weapon in the fight with serenity especially during the best moments in “Creepy
Creeping Creeps”. It makes the album complete, a real crusher of everything, giving
a deformation of the whole matter. Right now, it’s a good moment to drown in
the last rotten piece of the sleepers, called “Deformation of the Dark Matter”,
the song that is rather a contradiction to the rest of the track length. 6:12
looks like a giant here, it swarms with tempo changing (but with thrifty vocals),
these bloody Swedes don’t forgive offering the final abominable temptation for
my senses. And one more important thing: it proves the musicians are able to
compose not only three-minute shots.
All right,
summing up and to make all the things perfectly clear: Morbus Chron came out
with a really enjoyable slab, it’s a very successful start to their career, mind
you, they are signed to Century Media now. On the base of the things which are
invented many years ago, they have the face to show their putrefied musical
visions. They have talent, maturity and furiousness. They know how to use the
songwriting to create very good bloody pieces of metal: they didn’t fail to
build a foot-bridge from the ancient days to our times what is the most
important matter in this genre. Their second journey made this year is still
missing in my collection, so, I know the title which will arrive to me pretty
soon.
… and I can’t
get off this lying in wait eye from front cover… go to hell, there is no escape…
-Tlacaxipehualiztli
(written on September, 2014)
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