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MORFIN
Inoculation

FDA Rekotz (2014)
Rating: 7.5/10

Isn’t it great to know that old school death metal is still alive and well, and influencing all manner of extreme bands?

Morfin is the latest bunch of lunatics to emerge from the impressive FDA Rekotz roster. Inoculation is their debut slab, featuring ten grisly cuts that should please any fans of early Death and the likes. It’s no real surprise then when I see that the album finishes off with a cover of ‘Leprosy’, which featured on Death’s 1988 album of the same name. So, Morfin are not the world’s most original band, but they sure as hell can vomit out brutal death metal with authority.

Hailing from California, this quartet formed in 2010. Inoculation is a classy record that holds no shame in worshipping Chuck Schuldiner’s compositions; nowhere more so than with Jesus Romero, who has that dry rasping cough-like bark which Chuck was known for. Romero also plays the guitar, alongside Pedro Gonzalez. The riffs and solos are impressive throughout as the rest of the band carves out a sound that comprises mainly of mid-tempo, stuffy dynamics, which give this opus a dense, old school feel. Morfin also features the deathly drum talents of Miguel Hernandez, while the bass duties are handled by Romero’s brother Michael.

Inoculation does sound as if it was recorded between the years 1989-1991, such is its dryness and eerie atmosphere. It’s an album that is catchy throughout, beginning with the mid-paced sinister tones of ‘Evil Within’, which is a thick wall of sound that creaks with its nostalgic façade of heavy drums and darkly-laced guitars, reminding me of a cross between Death and the mighty Possessed.

Morfin combine fizzing, pacey riffs with deathlier slower segments, with just about every band that made old school death metal so great coming to the fore in those sneers, snares and sickening solos. Whether it’s Massacre, Morbid Angel or Gorguts, Morfin nod to them all in their thirst for ghoulish notoriety.

Yep, there are times when you’ll feel you’ve heard the arrangements before, but Inoculation is one of those records that doesn’t pretend to be anything other than solid death metal. The likes of ‘Identity Killer’, ‘Cryostasis’ and ‘Viral Mutation’ all sound like songs which may not have been good enough to appear on the classic works of Obituary, Death etc, but they are still strong contenders when it comes to nominations for the best revival death metal band on the circuit.

With the sturdy bass-lines, pummelling drums and ghastly vocal gurgles – which at times exist as a less formidable relative of John Tardy (Obituary) – Morfin’s sound reminds us not only of the glory years of death metal, but proves that if executed in the right manner, this sort of pungent death metal can still work today.

One may argue that Morfin’s debut offering lacks any type of progression, but again, I need to state that these guys are more than happy to mimic some of the original bands of the genre and occasionally inject their own malodorous melody. With ‘Dark Creator’ and ‘Brain Control’ one can hear just how precise and concise these guys are, rarely veering off their path into unknown waters, but merely sticking to their guns to produce those clammy riffs.

Morfin are creating nothing new, but merely robbing graves for their own clammy hands. Because this platter is so close to the real thing, however, it works extremely well without ever becoming annoying. While this offering pales in comparison to the debut masterpieces of Death, Obituary etc., I can only applaud this type of hero worship because this is still a solid, fleshy composition, and one which may turn a lot of people onto to those older bands if they’ve never previously heard them. Nothing beats a chunk of no frills death metal, and this is exactly what Morfin have created, and good luck to them.

Neil Arnold

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