ALBUM REVIEW: Morbid Messiah – Demoniac Paroxysm

Here I review a band who I am new to, MORBID MESSIAH with their debut full length album, only preceded by one EP! Set for release on 22nd October with Memento Mori Records (the label that put out both albums from one of my favourite Death-Doom bands UNCOFFINED)! From what I gather this will be some awesome and dismal, old school Death Metal! Let’s get stuck in!

1. Rite Of The Rottenness opens with some pretty gruesome sampling and a wicked Horror movie vibe being set, something that all of the Old School Death Metal bands seem to find solace in, but to me, never gets old. It is pretty damn intense but not as much so as the doomy and morbid guitar riffs that follow. The drums are punctual but not overbearing, the warm yet dismally bleak guitar and bass sounds just right and the mix is pretty clear, now to see what sort of vocals we are dealing with, something that could make or break this really epic sound they have here, although this is not where we find out. A really cool and unique opening track!
2. Charred Devastation follows on with much faster assaults and slightly rawer feel to the production but still everything retaining its place very nicely. The band certainly capture the old school Death Metal feel very nicely with the built up and gruesome attack across all instruments and when the vocals come in with extremely low guttural howls I know this release will be right up my street. There is so much great elements from the pummelling drums and gruesome guitars to the brutal bass and morbid vocals. Everything about this is perfect to me, really nasty and filthy Death Metal with no regard for modern flourishes or anything other than their ruthless attack on the listener. The guitar solo is as hectic and blistering as I anticipated which worked nicely. Killer material!
3. Graveyard Headhunter comes in with slower drudging riffs and insane drum fills beautifully, the thrashing pace soon kicks in for upbeat meanders into catatonically harsh Death Metal attacking force. This song is more of a ruthless bludgeoning on the listener with its menacing grooves and full on rampant gory haste in the verses. Absolutely gorgeous, filthy tones and a genuine feel of the macabre. Handle with caution!
4. Devoured By Darkness punctually follows suit with more incredibly heavy riffing, blasting drums and just so much high velocity, ferocious attack to it. The odious and putrid feel of the band is perfectly captured in the production style and just really works to make something disgusting, contemptuous and awesome. This is not for fans of pretty technical flourishes or progressive pretences, just raw and violent Death Metal chaos. The groove of the riffs is worthy of breakneck head banging and the song certainly lives up to its name, devouring the listener into dark and heinous Death Metal brilliance. Loved the maddening guitar solos too! Purely glorious!
5. Breath Of The Ominous begins with some ambience and sampling, once more reinstalling the horror inspired feel of the album, greatly done. The upbeat drums caught me unaware however, with beautifully played bass soon joining and guitars the coming in to tear through yet more high speed ferocious Death Metal, a wonderful start I must say. The higher vocals add a cool touch to the album but are not overused, soon returning to the comfort of more traditional gutturals, the band clearly have a great sense of how to string things together and no overindulge in something to the point it becomes grating. The battalion of killer riffs, drum fills and vocal abolishments are impressive, perfectly used and varied nicely. Another greatly enjoyable piece, which is faded out gorgeously.
6. Crawling In Guts envelops chaos from the very off with it’s absolutely obliterating assaults, the tremolo picked riffs full of malignant groove and the drums played to ridiculous speeds, the sheer skill of the musicians is damn impressive and it is used excellently. The vocals once more absolutely violating us with morbid grunts and howled hatred. This song is incredibly intense and does not rest once, purely assaulting through menacing material and doing so really well. There is so much strength in this music and nothing that feels forced or like it is just making up time, using every second that counts to really kick ass. The thing I am really glad of especially, is that every single instrument and vocal line is heard, nothing is buried in the mix, while the drums are loud they are not overshadowing and the bass is really allowed to come through, also the guitars actually make use of the mids which is nice!
7. Fetid Bloodbath thrashes into existence with some really full on intensity across the board. The grisly assault follows on beautifully from the tracks which have all flowed together fluidly. The drums on this track really stand out with some killer fills used! The riffs too are incredibly original and really catchy with their almost cascading approach rather than just chugged out mute picking or only using tremolo picking (although there is quite a bit of it, it is well used and not repetitive). Once more, great work!
8. Howling From The Grave comes in with crushingly heavy bass and drums, the tone absolutely beautiful. The guitars join us but not before the bass belts out some more grinding riffs. The slower and more dismal feel of the song is a nice change in pace allowing us to recuperate from the sheer attack of the last few. The crawling rhythm of the song is actually really cool and sort of feels like the album is drawing out but then to rebuild for one last piece of mayhem, very cleverly put together and clearly with lots of thought going into everything. The eerily used lead guitars sound like distant howls almost, which certainly fits the title! The song certainly builds up with catchy upbeat drums and thunderous guitar/bass groove!
9. Morbid Messiah/Morbid Invocation is not only the longest song, but the last of the album. I am very excited to see how they will finish this brutally mesmerising release, will it be drawn out or will they go for one last assault? Let’s find out! The doomy riffs that start things off certainly suggest the prior, with a crushingly heavy atmosphere, articulated beautifully from the slow guitar and bass, chiming cymbal hits and drawn out vocals. The pace intensifies through and I believe they have some more madness to show us, but then we are dropped back into more Death-Doom territory. I love how unexpected each section of this song is, really keeping my on my toes. The drums and bass absolutely hammer the track through the mix with some gnarly guitars and hellish vocals too! Beautifully done on everyones part! The song ascends into purely gorgeous full on Death Metal assault perfectly, but still keeping the transitions slow to make it really drag you along nicely. The pummelling force of this song and doomy vibes are what make it my favourite on the album! With the song seeming to end just before the halfway mark and some hideously great vocals used, I am left dumfounded by how great this is. Absolutely amazing closing piece!

This year seems to have plenty of great new releases for fans of more old school Death Metal, this album is one of them! Certainly one of the better ones to check out! Really killer tracks, songwriting and some of the tightest drumming I have heard recently. The guitar riffs and bass sound intense as hell and the vocals just completely decimate anyone still on the fence. Great work and I really hope to hear more from the band! -8/10