From the Vault Review
Morbid Sacrifice – Severed Death<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second-wave of Christian death metal saw a lot of bands rise up from out of the
sonic impact crater left by pioneers like Crimson Thorn and Mortification, and I\u2019ve found this
period (late 90\u2019s – early 2000\u2019s) a fascinating one as of late. This era witnessed the birth of both
famous acts like Extol, Lament and Pantokrator, as well as obscure acts like Indwelling, Corpse,
Clemency and possibly the most bizarre one of them all, Morbid Sacrifice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fast-forward to today, and this record seems to have a curious draw about it. I would Over the years, I\u2019ve discovered that extreme Christian metal bands are often quite Still, at its heart, Severed Death<\/em> is an old-school death metal record. \u201cMisogynicide\u201d Unfortunately, like many jam sessions, there are times when it feels like the band\u2019s not From the Vault ReviewMorbid Sacrifice – Severed Death The second-wave of Christian death metal saw…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":14285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1020],"tags":[2990],"class_list":["post-14284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-morbid-sacrifice"],"yoast_head":"\n
Morbid Sacrifice aren\u2019t exactly a household name, I reckon. Formed in 1995, they didn\u2019t
record their first album until several years later, releasing it in 2002 in ultra-minimal quantities.
Disbanding shortly after, their sole release, Severed Death<\/em> was reissued on a larger scale in 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
venture to say it\u2019s one of the most odd death metal recordings out there. Imagine it\u2019s the early
90\u2019s, and you\u2019ve stumbled into a garage where the members of Cannibal Corpse are having a
jam session and recording whatever they come up with. Though Crimson Thorn often get
labelled as the \u201cChristian Cannibal Corpse\u201d, I\u2019m not entirely sure these guys don\u2019t fit that label a
little more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
eclectic, and have a tendency to hybridize several styles into one record. Witness the
death\/doom meets black metal of early Antestor or demo-era Pantokrator, for instance, or the
mixed approach to death metal heard from bands like Mortification or Metanoia. I\u2019ve never been
sure why this is a thing, but I can\u2019t help what I hear. With Severed Death<\/em>, we get a strange brew
of early Chris Barnes-era Cannibal Corpse, a dash of Crimson Thorn, a touch of black metal,
and portions of hard rock. Yes, hard rock. The title track \u201cSevered Death\u201d has a beginning
section that sounds so out of place on a death metal record like this one that one could be
forgiven for checking to make sure the right album is still on, with the guitars making me think of
some hard rock act out of L.A. more than the brutish New York death metal stomping of
Cannibal Corpse. Same with \u201cBuried Alive\u201d – it sounds like a Judas Priest riff at the start, before
it goes completely nuts and descends into a flurry of death metal madness that sounds like
Chris Barnes doing a duet with Lord Ecklektus of unblack act Golgota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
tackles the issue of domestic violence against women, musically alternating between a
galloping, almost punk-like riff and aggressive blastbeats with total abandon. \u201cWhom I Serve\u201d
touches on the theme of \u201cChristus Victor,\u201d championing Jesus Christ as \u201cmighty in battle,
greatest of all warriors\u201d (almost distantly echoing the old English poem \u201cThe Dream of the Rood\u201d
in its theme). Other themes such as the resurrection of the body and baptism are also touched
upon. Sonically, no track is the same really, though I suppose the rough groove of \u201cThe Offering\u201d
and \u201cDeliverance of the Beast\u201d work along the same lines, echoing (and I hate to say it) the
groove-laden sounds of Barnes post-Cannibal Corpse band, Six Feet Under. If you\u2019ve subjected
yourself to the unintentionally hilarious sounds of the latter, worry not – Morbid Sacrifice are a
much better band; it\u2019s just that they do bear much in common with the slower death grooves
heard on Six Feet Under records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
quite sure what to do with their songs or where to take them. The guitar solos are, at best,
poorly mixed, haphazard and laughably executed, and are for me, easily the worst element on
an otherwise good record. And criticisms aside, this is a good record. When the band is on
point, the music flows and grooves its way along like a shambling monster capable of
momentary bursts of speed. Chris Auman\u2019s vocals mimic the gruff barks and high-pitched
gurgles of early Chris Barnes, but without falling into the unintentional hilarity that the latter\u2019s
vocals often do on Six Feet Under records. The riffs themselves swing from heavy metal\/hard rock-esque vibes to full on smouldering rivers of aggression that sound far more ominous than what one might have expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
As one can see, Severed Death<\/em> is a mixed bag of an album, a hodgepodge, patchwork
quilt of all kinds of musical influences put through a death metal filter. As a work of curiosity, one
would be hard pressed to find a more original and yet familiar sounding work; the records
obvious nods to early Cannibal Corpse and Crimson Thorn make it a comfortable and enticing
work, yet the strange hard rock and classic heavy metal influences turn the whole thing on its
head at times. Though I think there are better death metal albums around this time period,
Severed Death remains a unique piece of Christian death metal history for those who are
interested in diving deeper than Mortification and Crimson Thorn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Fans Of: Cannibal Corpse (Barnes-era), Demoniciduth, Metanoia, Crimson Thorn, Six Feet Under<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"