Morphosis - Rise Of The Bastard Deities

"Rise Of The Bastard Deities" is the long awaited debut album from one of Ireland`s long serving death metal bands. These guys to me are of cult status here and to me dont get half the credit they deserve. Just to give the readers a little bit of background on Morphosis, these guys released a demo under the name "Asphyxia" to which the demo was called "Conflagration" in 1990. Not too long after this the band changed their name to Morphosis and recorded the "Modus Operandi" demo and "Malicious Malfiguration" demo in `93 and `95 respectively. Then not long after this, there was silence for the boys. These demos were simply put, ahead of their time to come out of Ireland. They sounded very suffocation like in sound. If you got any tape trader friends (if there is still any out there) look out for these demos.

Fast forward a decade and the band has regrouped since featuring original and founding members, Vinny(guitar) and George(bass). The line up today is completed by Squelch on vocals and new drummer, andy, but however it was Sam Lambert who recorded the drums on this album. Now to the cd!

Firstly i have to say i love the artwork on this cd. It looks great and to me trully represents the music. Looks fantastic on a shirt too! Inside, there is old biblical/satanic imagery which ties in very nicely with Squelch`s evil lyrics. Squelch`s delivery of the vocals on this cd remind me of a hybrid of Frank Mullen from Suffocation, Barney from Napalm Death with a hint of Brett Hoffman from Malevolent Creation for measure. Throughout the whole cd he spouts his vocals with great anger injected with venom. Squelch is backed up in the mix by George who does the high vocals which sound like someone getting their balls cut with a stanley knife. They are so piercing and emphasise the parts so well. The 2 vocal styles gel so well together and compliment each other so good.

Now i would like to take the opportunity to salute the man, Vinny. A man in search of the heaviest of the heaviest(like myself). It was him that spurned a whole movement of bands recording at Trackmix studios in Dublin, my own band included.I do know that Vinny took several attempts at getting this mixed to achieve the heaviest sound possible and i think its pretty damn close but i do believe there is room for a little bit more heaviness. I think the guitars could have been thicker but hey a minor gripe. The guitars do indeed have that rusty chainsaw sound which sound like they cut splice you in bits! They are broken up here and there with the odd rip of a solo here and there but its never the focal point. Its all about the heaviness right!?  The bass, Its gotta be said sounds like a panzer division tank crushing skulls. So heavy!!! The drums sound absolutely crackin` and executed with the utmost precision. They cut great through the whole mix and every beat can be heard. New drummer Andy has big shoes to fill as the recorded drums here are lethal!! Choice cuts for myself here are "Plight Of The Fallen Ones", "Conflagration" and "kindred" which features Primordial`s Alan"Nemtheanga" Averil. Whilst i mentioned earlier that the demos sounded very suffocation-esque, the tracks featured on this album contain some "re-workings" of older songs, though(as a suffocation fan) they have somehow lost that "suffs" sound and turned very Napalm Death/Hate Eternal in sound. Is that a bad thing? you decide. I did read a certain review of this album commenting on it as "this album’s best cuts, which could have made a devastating EP, the rest is absolutely average". Bollocks! Are we listening to the same cd? The reviewer has clearly lost interest in death metal. For this ladies and gentlmen is fuckin DEATH METAL so go pick it up now you wont regret it!!!!!

1. Plight Of Fallen Ones
2. Psychosomatics
3. Kindred
4. Rise Of The Bastard Deities
5. Depraved
6. Conflagration
7. Preyed Upon
8. Crown Of Thorns
9. Shred
10. Rabid


Sentinel Records
Reviewer: Connor
Aug 18, 2010

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