Morbid Flesh
Rites of the Mangled
(Unholy Prophecies)
From the defiant village of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain, Morbid Flesh hand us another triumphant slab of old school death metal. Formed in 2007, Morbid Flesh have treated us to a demo, a full length, and an EP; in 2009, 2011, 2014, respectively. The LP, Reborn in Death, definitely grabbed attention. Now returning with seven tracks, Morbid Flesh plods like cinder block boots with Rites of the Mangled.
Earlier this year, Unholy Prophecies unleashed Insulters LP, Metal Still Means Danger. The label mate and fellow Catalonian, Blasphemic Vomitor lends guest vocals. Also, we are graced with Xavi of Tort, and Xavier from Ósserp and Crani Septic. None of this is surprising when considering Morbid Flesh includes members of Insulters, Graveyard (Barcelona DM), Ósserp, Cuerno, Tort and Sheidim. Rites of the Mangled was helmed by Javi Felez, who recorded, mixed, and mastered the album at his Moontower Studios (Graveyard, Avulsed, Nominon). Felez exhumes brutality and filth on Rites of the Mangled. Gigantic, thick riffs pummel listeners. They music can bandy between harsh speeds and mid-tempo quagmires. All the doom drenched ferocity is mesmerizing.
Morbid Flesh owe an obvious nod to Swedish Death Metal, but mangle or reform its structure. Their music’s skeleton may have bones of Grave and early Dismember, but Morbid Flesh disfigure it and make it harsher, thicker, and uglier. Tracks like “Banished to Oblivion” and “Heretics Hammer”, perched in the center of the album, are murky gems. Lightning fast and thick as hairball riffs, breaking to create an up-swing and occasional lines of melody, regurgitate classic DM with a new shiny bile glistening.
Thinking of uglier bands live Incantation (but no guitar squeals), Terrorizer or Repulsion (but never goes grind) or Autopsy (but gnarlier) begins to paint an image; but truly Morbid Flesh can stand alone. Mammoth and ugly, Morbid Flesh’s sound is unique while feeling like an old band you’ve known for years. Morbid Flesh push unrelenting heavy chords again and again, never concerned with ornate nuances or technical wizardry, churning savagery is just punched and punched in a fog of feedback and static. The looming atmosphere is utilized as much as any instrument. The guitar is fantastic, I am not dismissing the leads or piercing riffs layered over the thunder (check “Incantation”).
The album’s cover artwork, is some unidentifiable mole-ish worm creatures conniving in their hovel. As the twisted frames with boney, withered bodies plot in the cavern, I can hear Morbid Flesh’s soundtrack influencing nefarious plans. Check out this sick perversion of a classic sound.
