Review: Morbific ‘Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh’
All life from the mammals to the vegetation rots into the earth, producing a noxious pollutant that infects everything it reaches… this plume of death can only mark the return of the slumbering, reeking and infectious corpse that is Finland’s Morbific, polluting the air with their third full-length slab of disease-ridden death metal titled Bloom of the Abnormal Flesh. It was released through Me Saco Un Ojo, Memento Mori and Headsplit Records on April 21st… and it’s one that should certainly be on your diseased death metal radar.
Scandinavia has a rich history in death metal and Finland certainly could be considered to be the leading contributor to all things audibly revolting on this here planet, knocking out classic releases across the late 80’s/early 90’s from Demilich, Convulse, Funebre, Purtenance, Demigod, Sentenced… I could go on! So it’s no surprise that the country is still producing quality material three decades later with Morbific drawing clear inspiration from these slabs of sickness to create their latest ode to all things filth ridden on Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh.
Three years have passed since the band’s well received sophomore record Squirm Beyond The Mortal Realm and this new slab continues the gore soaked, oppressive and massive sound that Morbific have been honing over the last three records, splits and demos. This is the Finish trio’s longest effort yet and by a pretty long shot, clocking in at forty-five minutes which is seven minutes longer than their last full-length. Fear not though reader, they haven’t chucked in some random acoustic interlude to stretch out the run time and they also haven’t sacrificed the quality, with each track earning its rightful place on the record without feeling like they’re filler material.
It’s so thick and gelatinous, you can almost feel it seeping out of your speakers…
Morbific surprise no one by continuing to bring the ooze here, which is especially prevalent in the rhythm section. The riffs are utterly infectious, punk in spirit, almost Obituary-esque. Combined with the stomping, crusty drum work and groove laden bass lines fuse together to create a gloriously thick sludge that consumes all within its path! Panspermic Blight is a great example of this and, for me, it is also is one of the highlight tracks on the record.
I’ve got to hand it to Jusa Janhonen and Morbific for the self-production/mixing job, it’s always great to see someone pouring themselves into a record and getting it exactly how they wish you to hear it. The guys have done a great job as it sounds utterly rotten. It’s so thick and gelatinous, you can almost feel it seeping out of your speakers, the subtle keyboards are used perfectly to help build the records putrid and necrotic atmosphere.
Although Morbific aren’t necessarily bringing anything new and genre breaking into the fold on Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh, the trio have succeeded in producing their strongest release yet. It feels like they have taken the last two releases and honed their sound into a ‘polished’ and quality effort. Also, who wants everything to be unique/genre breaking? Sometimes, I just want a band to come together and produce something they clearly enjoyed creating, and that’s exactly what you get here. A solid pile of crusted over death that you should do your best to dig into!
Label: Me Saco Un Ojo | Memento Mori | Headsplit Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Matt Alexander
