Deceased - Children Of The Morgue - CASSETTE

By now, DECEASED need no introduction. One of the longest-running American death metal bands, since 1985, DECEASED have been there for it all: death metal's genesis, its creative peak, its commercial peak and subsequent sink into trendiness, the eventual fallout and "un-trendiness," its rebirth at the hands of a new generation, and on and on. There they have stood, simply and 100% always DECEASED, not caring what year it is or what is hip - simply, always, DEATH METAL FROM THE GRAVE!

And across their sizable-yet-succinct discography, at their heart, DECEASED have always been a great HEAVY METAL band. They proved it with 1997's landmark Fearless Undead Machines and continued to prove it with every album thereafter, with 2018's Ghostly White showing that even this MANY years on, their pistons are pumping harder and more creatively than ever.

During those past three decades, DECEASED have not been without ambition. Even when stretching the limits of complexity like on 1995's The Blueprints for Madness, true-to-death storytelling has always been at the fore of their work, vividly illustrated by the characteristic throat of founder / former drummer King Fowley. And although Fearless Undead Machines was perhaps the apex of that storytelling, never before have DECEASED attempted such an emotional, topically rooted-in-death album...until now!

Enter Children of the Morgue, DECEASED's darkest record to date. The album's concept is on dying and all that it entails, and suitably do the band integrate nearly every element of their past and present arsenal into its 55-minute runtime. "There will be fast parts, slow parts, melodic parts, noisy parts, and everything in between," Fowley claimed pre-release, and he's not wrong! But how DECEASED manage to thread everything together so seamlessly speaks to the strength of their songwriting - always recognizable, but never resting on past laurels. Here on Children of the Morgue, moody-yet-melodic riffing and lead-work take center stage as Fowley narrates this epic-length tale of life and death. The album's exceptional pacing and engaging, always-going-forward song constructions heighten the sensation that the record is a lot shorter than it actually is; however, if one was to do some quick math, he'd surmise at least half these tracks are indeed EPIC - at or above the eight-minute mark. Nevertheless, the sum effect is mesmerizing and even majestic, unremittingly DARK as the subject matter may be. The final icing on the cake (or slamming of the morgue's doors?) is the warm & rustic recording courtesy of Oblivion Studios, where the aforementioned Fearless Undead Machines and co-classic Supernatural Addiction were rendered onto tape.