Presenting a concept album about destined death, the process of dying, and the sometimes unjust-seeming dissolution that strikes us down along our path Arlington, Virginia-based death metal quintet DECEASED speak with authority and feeling that is once again believably evocative of the ‘old school’ of heavy metal in their own distinct way. Now arriving upon their fortieth year as a band with an eighth full-length album in-claw these long-celebrated still underrated fellowes present one of their finest efforts to date in ‘Children of the Morgue‘, a record which finds ’em sticking to what they do best in terms of thrashing up from the grave of the 80’s with elements of classic thrash metal, epic heavy metal and hardcore punk fueling this brilliantly composed but never dryly pretentious hourlong opus. You can rightfully go in knowing what to expect from these folks but that doesn’t mean they’ve exhausted the possibilities of their all-in style of heavy metal, in this particular case fans of thier late 90’s step into their own will appreciate the overall vigor (and the riffs) set behind this one.

Deceased formed circa 1984 under various tentative names (Evil Axe, Mace, Mad Butcher) splitting their first life between their part in the advent and expansion of the death metal way and the distinction that’d more completely arrive in the 90’s. If you’re a die-hard fan of death/thrash metal and 80’s death metal in general an album like their debut (‘Luck of the Corpse‘, 1991) will naturally celebrate the real thing, a serious morbid thrash feeling with a certain kinetic tic to its attack. For years that’d been all I’d bothered with in their discography but around 2005 I began to take a closer look at ‘Fearless Undead Machines‘ (1997) and the then brand new ‘As The Weird Travel On‘ as I began to understand the friction they’d created merging a love for horror cinema, classic heavy metal, death metal, thrash, hardcore punk and more. It’d all amount to an underground heavy music fan’s ideal everything-in type of band able to flex between early grind, crossover, death-thrash, and Maiden melodies without sounding like trash; As an addendum to my quickly rattled out review of their 2018 record ‘Ghostly White‘ in hindsight I’d say that fifth album (circa 2005) took their late 90’s sound to a next level rather than “perfected” the main goal as outlined in 1995-1997. Beyond that specific thought I’m not going to write a mile-long rehash of their discography though I will say these days particularly love their second and third album for the ambitious self they’d managed as they come into their own, no longer tied to the overstretched gape that death metal had become after the major label fisting it’d received in middle of the 90’s.

The main takeaway from revisiting the Deceased‘s discography for the umpteenth time brings up the strong level of appreciation I hold for their evolution as a heavy metal and hardcore punk inspired death/thrash metal band that’d forged their own sound, a unique trip which blurs the evolutionary steps between traditional metal’s post-NWOBHM evolution up through the early extremes of death metal. Theirs is a distinct, clear-as-day voice which is still incomparable, non-commercial but still earnest and musical in its intent after decades of going at it. Otherwise the effect of sitting with ‘Children of the Morgue‘ generally recalls how I’d typically feel hanging with an album like ‘Madness of the Graves‘ from Root, not in terms of style but in the sense that they bring an equally unique personality (which’d been around since the inception of extreme metal) that still clearly values traditional heavy metal while leaving those roots well-exposed. Otherwise I’d felt like for this album the band kinda took stock, looked at what they’d done best in the past and aimed for some of the magickry felt on their first concept album ‘Fearless Undead Machines‘, likewise fashioning about eight songs of thrash and 80’s heavy metal inspired aggression into a quasi-narrative experience. If you are not familiar with their discography I would at least suggest that one for additional context, though I personally still love ‘As the Weird Travel On‘ for its out the gates energy.

The short version? Classic Deceased record off the jump with plenty of feeling put in their patiently sorted songcraft, once again offering myriad points of inspiration that manage to nail front-to-back quality regardless of it being a melody or just ripped-at riffs driving the show. Their work is still all about managing a feeling of endlessly hurled momentum and King Fowley still has a lot of words to get out but this time around they’re taking some extra care in developing each of the main songs, cramming them with ideas that line up with fewer points of self-interruption. The one caveat that I will enforce up front here is that this experience is best suited for folks who have a damned attention span enough to sit through a full hour of ‘epic’ heavy metal sweating kinda punkish death-thrashing music. This isn’t a twenty-two minute three riff death metal album created by fentanyl smoking ex-metalcore bandmembers and in that sense these folks’ work is still for the ‘old school’ attuned ear that want to hear the salad of taste tossed and temperament composed into something involved but tunefully shaped. Set aside a solid hour, take a break in between sides.

The ‘epic’ amalgam of it all should unfurl in mind within the first couple of songs here where the title track (“Children of the Morgue“) and its associated intro piece “Destination: Morgue” establish the thrash metal/crossover era stretch of their arrangements where this uncanny almost melodic hardcore (in the mid-80’s sense) dreariness butts up against a ‘Beat the Bastards‘ sort of spike of energy once we’re past the steady built introduction. There is a chorus and it hits around two and a half minutes in, brief as it is before they’ve cut into one of several Discharge-meets-’87 thrash change ups to keep the mind spinning. From my point of view this song has a late 80’s Maiden touch to its arrangement, condensed but quick moving in its thought and anyhow I was already in on this one before the first solo hit and the main verses had even reprised; We get some similar energy on “Terrornaut” with similarly voiced transitional points in its riffs, yanking on the odd early Voivod tangle here and there but carrying some melodic punk dread along with a few angular cuts. You’ll note that the first several songs here have a lead-in, an intro or some manner of separation between thoughts which gives the first impression a certain sense of patience, profundity which allows just enough space to consider the themes and maybe pick up the lyric sheet and dig into what they’re on about.

The production values here are some of Deceased‘s best application of Oblivion Studios to date, getting a warm but still severe dual-guitar tone which has a classic mid-to-late 80’s thrash metal growl to it, still suitable to the death-thrasher skull and the gang-shouted roll of a song like “The Reaper is Nesting”. This fully works as the right medium for all of the ground they cover without having to compromise any sort of heaviness or the clarity required to yank out a big lead-driven or melodious number. The drums aren’t all-encompassing or treated in cavernous space and this allows the snare to sit as prime anchor in its swat, sparing on the double bass stuff where we get the push of it without missing any of the guitar details. Otherwise the space is naturally compressed into focus and this means the glom of it all still sets the bass guitar in a support role with only a few self-inserts cropping up here and there. I appreciate that it feels kinda ancient but doesn’t read weak or scuffed.

While I’d like to touch upon every single song here the first half of the album establishes the ‘epic’ punkish thrashing nature of their intent and gives a specific ‘classic thrash’ metal feeling to my ear (see also: “Eerie Wavelengths”) and they’re on a tear to start, but all of this is more-or-less establishing the footing for the longer and increasingly ambitious pieces that start to hit later on in the record with “The Gravedigger” particularly standing out as something both signature Deceased and something a bit different in terms of its headier, dirging mood which satisfies the part of my brain eternally linked to ‘The Weird Travel On‘ where I’d felt the big, loud ‘on a rant’ personality of the band most.

“Fed to Mother Earth” of course recalls the spirit of ‘Fearless Undead Machines‘ most from my point of view with a sort of “Mysterious Research” kind of vibe while continuing on the thread of “The Gravedigger” per its backing/additional vocals but with a more patient melodic build. This is a reasonable standout in terms of representing all of the ground this record covers and its traditional heavy metal built style, and the song is distinctly memorable once you’ve taken it all in, though it isn’t my favorite moment on the album. Over time I began to favor the ~4-5 minute tighter melodic punk/’Angel Rat‘ infused pieces on the album, particularly enjoying the ringing chords used on the verses of “Brooding Lament”, though it’ll be the ~7-8 minute songs that will stick in mind most in the long run as they carry the most bold melodic statements in the greater arc of the ‘Children of the Morgue‘.

I’ve always felt part of the signature of Deceased is the album art, less so ‘Luck of the Corpse‘ as one of my least favorite of all time, but most of their choices fits a certain palette or horror cinema apropos style which they’ve conveyed through several artists over the years. This particular image from Desmond Root Ambrose recalls the style of Jowita Kamińska‘s cover for ‘As the Weird Travel On‘ to some small degree and maybe the late 90’s Wes Benscoter stuff, using a creeped illustrative style crammed with detail on the right and more open on the left which suits the general gatefold image. I’d still need to sit with the actual thing in hand but I’d felt this was both evocative of the ‘old school’ horror metal spiritus of the band and fitting of their greater discography.

Otherwise one of the coolest things this album does is insert the introductory motif, the main riff progression of the opener into the closing moments of its endpoint, “Farewell (Taken to Forever)”, so that leaving this record on repeat makes the opening moment and the closing piece extra resonant as if extended into one sixteen minute piece in two chapters. This roots the album in its theme in a unique way, doubling down on this sense of passage into death as they grant the album a well-reinforced theme both in the musical sense and its concept; The listening experience here is, again, primed for folks with a strong attention span willing to give an hourlong LP due attention for its details before you let it roll. The sooner you’ve sorted the verve of the whole thing the more immersive the experience will ultimately be but only if you’re willing to take on their unique admixture and see the greater shape form. Though the general audience these days has literally about two minutes of attention span to spare any heavy metal album anymore I’d suggest that folks give this one a solid hour to bust out its charms as they’ve clearly put a ton of work into this one. Again, for my own taste this album sits among their best work. A high recommendation.

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