Every time I play ‘Ritual Of Infinity’ the music explodes in my in my ears like a fragment grenade.  Morpheus Descends is crushing, blasting, rolling, terrifying, and they are the epitome of Death Metal.  How and why these guys are not mentioned more often on Top 10/20 lists is a fucking mystery to me, but I’d definitely take Cannibal Corpse or fucking Tiamat off one of those lists on the basis of band integrity, and nerdy Metal fan intelligence.  Anyway, lest I digress off this critique, let’s get to why the fuck Morpheus Descends own most other acts past and present in the world of Death Metal.

Vocals: Raw, subterranean, and absolutely frightening.  To the point that I gotta believe Riemer ain’t growling.  No, he’s hurling oaken curses into my ears that plant a festering demonic egg oozing lyrical puss before bursting… Sick and scary = a macabre experience.

Drums: Slow and plodding, but fast in the right spots with no part of the kit triggered.  The double bass is like an alligator; in that each time it kicks in your pulled deeper into murky water by it’s threshing jaws.  Frankly, what makes the drumming totally pummeling is that each part of it can be heard in a thunderous incongruous harmony that only makes sense if it’s heard.  Most awesome is that a reliance on blast beats is NOT the modus operandi for conveying speed, unlike what comes off the kits of many bands in the 21^st century.

Bass: The sound is literal ROLLING THUNDER.  Seriously, the next time a massive thunderstorm is lurking outside your door with it’s fat water filled black clouds looming, get outside and listen to that clamorous thunder bellowing across the sky, for then you will know exactly how Ken Faggio’s bass pounds.

Guitars: If I have indeed saved the best of the instruments for last then this is where I go crazy.  The tone is lowly and rustic as if the guitars have somehow been downtuned to H.  The sound creeping from those combined 12 strings is poignantly homicidal, but with a controlled fury.  This vibe is brought on by listless Doom passages and languid chromatic bursts like a long knife gradually pushed and pulled from soft pink flesh.  Fast sections keep listeners guessing and headbanging, before a hangman’s hook cracks a neck at the end of a noose.  Solos soar, and they always seem to be placed in just the right spot, leaving that thunder bass to bounce monstrously.

‘Ritual Of Infinity’ is a recording that proves heavy and fast doesn’t necessarily need to coexist.  Sure modern studio tricks like Pro Tools or drum triggers can make an album sound lucidly amazing, but bands and their drooling fans have forgotten that Death Metal is supposed to be fuzzy, gritty, and mean.  Morpheus Descends demonstrate that simple well written compositions, masterful musicianship, and good ol fashioned creativity are far superior to a bunch of wanker’s stroking their instruments, pitch shifted vocals, or studio tricks.  This music is hard driving, cruel, the definition of brutal, and memorable.  What the fuck else could be better?

By Mike Lidia