In those distant pre-internet days I would often pick up albums on the strength of their sleeves (that, and reviews in Metal Hammer) and the cover that housed DECEASED…’s debut album (Luck Of The Corpse) pretty much leapt of the shelf and into my hands. Looking at the cover of the band’s latest record, Children Of The Morgue, I’m getting a similar type of feel and getting Juraj Herz’s The Cremator vibes (which, of course, is a good thing) and while it is true you should never judge a book by its cover (or an album by its sleeve), I’m jumping straight in to review Children Of The Morgue without a second thought.
Opening with a nice doomy instrumental, ‘Destination: Morgue’ is like a funeral dirge and it pulls itself along as such. An anchor tied to a drowning man, it drags the listener down to delirious depths and it soon breaks down any resistance we have. In opposition, the following ‘Children Of The Morgue’ is a beauteous beast that arrives like the gates of hell opening and spilling out all sorts of evil. It’s a song of several suites that violently shifts sonically and constantly repositions the listener so you never really know from which angle the band will hit next. The result is a song (like the whole album) that constantly engages you; this isn’t the type of record you put on as background music, rather it demands your full attention.
As one of the very first death metal bands, DECEASED… have their roots in both the punk and thrash metal scenes and Children Of The Morgue feature plenty of both. In fact, to fully understand where the band come from is best seen through the prism of their last two album’s 2020’s Rotten To The Core Part 2 and 2021’s Thrash Times At Ridgemont High. The former deals in mainly hardcore punk tunes, the latter thrash, and Children Of The Morgue meets somewhere in the middle (with plenty of death styling, naturally). Tracks such as ‘The Reaper Is Nesting’ has plenty of dirt under the fingernails and is spit with anger and bite, yet there’s metal musicianship to add depth and texture, and (original) vocalist King Fowley delivering plenty of deathlike growls.
The great thing about DECEASED… is that they are impervious to fads and trends and Children Of The Morgue doesn’t sound too far removed from Luck Of The Corpse. Obviously, the band have grown as musicians, as has the songwriting, yet there’s a timelessness to this record that sounds as if it could have been released at any point over the last four decades. It’s the energy that makes tracks like ‘Eerie Wavelengths’ bristle so and connects modern day DECEASED… with their younger selves.
From Luck Of The Corpse to Children Of The Morgue, DECEASED… remain leaders in their field.
- Children Of The Morgue is released via Hell’s Headbangers on 30th August 2024.
Track List:
- Destination: Morgue
- Children Of The Morgue
- Turn To Wither
- Terrornaut
- The Reaper is Nesting
- The Uninvited Dirge
- The Gravedigger
- Eerie Wavelengths
- Fed To Mother Earth
- Skull With The Vacant Stare
- Brooding Lament
- Farewell (Taken To Forever)
