Morgue Supplier – Inevitability

Artist: Morgue Supplier

Album Title: Inevitability

Label: Transcending Obscurity Records

Date of Release: 13 May 2022

After a run of reviews towards the more melodic end of the heavy metal spectrum, it is time to dive deeply into something altogether heavier and nastier with this, my review of the latest album from death metal/grindcore band Morgue Supplier, entitled ‘Inevitability’. I’d never crossed paths with this US outfit before and I hadn’t intended to do so in 2022 either. However, I took a cursory listen and to my surprise, I found some ingredients that I piqued my interest. So, one quick listen turned into a few, and here we are with a review coming your way.

Despite being in existence since before the turn of the Millennium, Morgue Supplier’s 23-year career has only seen two previous albums brought to fruition, as well as three EPs. Prolific is not an adjective to be correctly applied to the band or, more accurately, the duo. Paul Gillis and Stephen Reichelt, both of Drug Honkey, are the protagonists here, with Gillis handling guitars, vocals, and programming, and Reichelt the bass. I assume therefore, that the drums are one of the programmed instruments alongside the occasionally strange or disconcerting sounds that emanate at times during certain songs.

Whilst the music is loosely labelled as a mix of death metal and grindcore, there is a lot more than that going on within the music on ‘Inevitability’. In fact, it was the doom/sludge aspect of one of the tracks, ‘Empty Vacant Shell’ that acted as the hook to get me sufficiently interested in sticking with the album. The song opens up with a ferocious tirade of aggression that verges on cacophony at points, with strange discordant sounds accenting the repetitive, disconcerting feel of the incessant riffs, the barrage of drums, and a bass that seems to do literally whatever it wants, either flitting from note to note independently, or supporting more closely the drum attack. It’s not a sound for the faint hearted, especially when you add the gurgling, depraved growls of Gillis into the recipe.

However, almost without noticing, the grindcore-heavy song slows down to deliver some crushing riffs, around which the drums dance. I have to say that I love the guitar sound here, and I really enjoy the mix of screams and growls that accompany the muscular riffs. The song continues to get slower until it is literally slithering along the floor, at which point, a tornado is unleashed, of frantic blastbeats, discordance verging on noise, and instrumental dexterity that’s impressive if not completely enjoyable per se.

As much as I’m not always a lover of the instrumental interlude, there’s something sinister and compelling about ‘Departure’, the mid-album hiatus from the uncompromising bludgeoning, as well as the closing title track, its companion piece. Both can hardly be described as ‘songs’, instead they are more like atmospheric composition pieces that are comprised of evil, dark sounds with an industrial, dystopian edge to them, dominated by what I assume is the double bass of Reichelt that reaches notes so low that they could probably shake hands with the Devil himself in Hell.

Everything on this album is designed, I’m sure, to be as uncomfortable, challenging, and confrontational to the listener as possible. Then again, isn’t that what extreme metal of this kind is ultimately all about? Take ‘My Path To Hell’ as just one example of this. It may not be the fastest and most aggressive track on the album, but it is dominated by an incessant, dissonant lead guitar line that becomes hypnotic and rather sickening as it continues for large chunks of the song’s five-minute run time. There are moments when the pace is increased, but it is the tortuous lead notes that do the most damage as far as I’m concerned.

By contrast, there’s an argument to suggest that ‘Existence Collapsed’ is almost melodic and catchy, at least in comparison to what’s gone before of course. It has an abundance of technicality, particularly where the bass playing is concerned, but there’s also plenty of groove too, making it arguably my favourite song on ‘Inevitability’. And then there’s the small matter of ‘Thoughts Of Only Darkness’, the album’s behemoth composition that stretches over eight minutes in length. In that time, the duo delight in creating something that is repetitive, bordering on the monotonous, whilst playing around with the tempo, thus flitting from slower, lumbering passages, to bursts of real pace and ferocity. For my money, it’s a little too long, but I like the ideas within it.

When all is said and done, I have to compliment Gillis and Reichelt for what they have achieved here on ‘Inevitability’. It won’t be for everyone – in fact, I suspect that their fanbase might be quite a niche one overall. But there are some moments within what is deliberately an ugly, sadistic, and generally uncomfortable album, that I genuinely like. Plus, you have to admire the sheer power and relentlessness of some of the music, as well as the musical abilities of the duo. I’m not altogether sure how often I will return to ‘Inevitability’ in the future, but I am glad I have experienced what they have to offer the extreme metal world.

Share this:

Like this:

Related

Published by manofmuchmetal

Leave a Reply Cancel reply