Morbid Carnage, Night Assassins
Hailing from Hungary, Morbid Carnage‘s Pulverised Records debut Night Assassins unloads seven vile and bludgeoning thrash tracks with an energetic delivery. While the music on the band’s first full length isn’t going to revolutionize or make a dent in the already thick thrash genre, the band’s delivery is what helps set them apart from their peers. The overall vibe that this album exudes is maniacal, evil and aggressive.
Now, they just need to add in a bit more variety in their song writing (oh, and a little more time spent on the album artwork) and we’ll have something a more to talk about next time around.
Warlust
Frenetic riffs and bestial drumming dominate the opening track as the vocals are delivered harshly and with plenty of vitriol. There’s a high energy groove that is shoveled down your gullet as these dudes tear through the song as quickly as they possibly can. The pseudo breakdown about half way through helps break up the unrelenting pace a good deal.
Slaughtering
At 3:35 in length, “Slaughtering” is the shortest song on the album so you know there are some lengthy thrash tracks on the disc — which ultimately leads to some monotony unfortunately. At any rate, this here song is chock full of burly drums, catchy guitar work and a vehement vocal delivery.
Funeral Pyre
“Funeral Pyre” has a bit of a Slayer feel to the slower opening moments before going for a darker tone as the vocals come in. The pace to this song is a bit more restrained than the previous couple songs, but it’s no less powerful. The pace eventually picks up to a solid gallop with the gang chorus. Don’t miss the sick lead around 2:30. I’m digging the later half of this song a good deal — the riffs and subsequent chugging mosh make for a head banging good time.
Empty Graves
A more varied opening and series of riffs before the guys settle into their high energy rhythm helps set “Empty Graves” apart some from the rest of the album. The song lengths are getting a bit overwhelming at this point. The band needs to interject some variety and change-ups in the songs if they are going to keep them longer than four minutes. Morbid Carnage do break up the pace a bit mid way through this song, but I’m not sure if it’s enough to break up the feeling of repetition that tends to sneak in. Other than that, there are some truly burly riffs and mosh found throughout this track.
Deviant
Searing guitars and an animalistic attack on the drums explode out of the speakers at the start of “Deviant.” I’m not sure how the guys managed it, but they squeezed out some more aggression and energy, delivering this song with piledriving force. The gang vocals are a nice touch and offer you the opportunity to get involved with the band. This is one of those songs that’s so violent and in your face that you’re willing to overlook the lack of variety in it — accepting the full frontal assault on your skull with pleasure.
Castle In Pain
Ok. I’ve already whined about the unfortunate effect of thrash in songs that are just too long, well here we have the seven minute opus, “Castle In Pain.” It starts off with a mid-tempo pace and your standard thrash riffing before eventually ramping up to a quicker pace and more aggressive guitar work around 2:30. There are a couple of memorable riffs at the half way point, but they are eventually swallowed by a decent enough lead and then that standard thrash chug. If you’re going to write a song this long do something with it. There’s just not enough variety in this one to keep my full attention.
Night Assassin
The title track rounds out a pretty good debut with bigger riffs and beefier drums than the last song. The band has certainly made up for the rather disappointing “Castle In Pain.” This last song is aggressive and raw with plenty of head banging mayhem. It’s probably my favorite song on the disc.
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Additional Notes:
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