Morgue Meat - Apocalyptic Visons

Morgue Meat is a brutal death metal band from Dallas, Texas who formed in 2010.  Their latest album, “Apocalyptic Visions,” is their second full-length album.  They have also released two EPs and a demo.

Morgue Meat and their new album offer a straightforward, no frills take on death metal.  It’s simple to the point of being archaic—that is a compliment.  Sometimes I don’t need anything fancy…and make no mistake, there is nothing refined or gorgeous about this decayed slab of metal meat.

With a runtime of just over 25 minutes across 9 songs, the band gets down to the rotten core of death metal’s essence and just blitzes it out.  The only respite is the intro track, “Intrōductiō Infernalis,” but even that one offers pounding drums and sharp lead guitar.  

The first full song, “Lesser Key of Solomon,” takes simple but pulverizing riffs to the beat of drums that pound impending doom and lets all hang right out of the gate.  The bass is just as heavy as the guitars, all of which are only matched by the vocals.  Every element of the band is, well, brutal and it’s actually amazing just how against the grain the album is. The sudden burst of speed just before the minute and half mark feels like the song being put through a grinder.  

There isn’t much in the way of variety but, then again, this isn’t the type of genre to offer that up.  If you’re listening to this, you don’t want dynamics, bells, or whistles.  You want to be pummeled.. …and you’re going to get it tenfold. 

“Ream of Eternal Suffering,” takes riffs, chops them up, and spits them back out as chunks of flesh that smack you right in the face. Touches of blackened speed appear here and there, offering the same type of devastation but this time too fast for you to do anything about it other than being decapitated.  

Even on an album such as this, “The Tormentor” offers an extreme take on the extreme.  The band actually lapses themselves in the amount of punishment they can dish out.  The song gets even more effective around the halfway mark when it slows the tempo down a bit for a true crushing experience.

The final song, “Conqueror’s Wrath,” introduces groove, tossed around like a ragdoll from the bass.  The entire band goes lower and than low for the final half, lead by death grunts that can’t possibly be pain free for the vocalist who recorded them. 

Ultimately, Morgue Meat’s “Apocalyptic Visions,” isn’t here to change any naysayers minds about brutal death metal but it's an obvious ode to all things grotesque and uncompromising.   I give it a sickening seal of approval.