Album Review: Degraved - Whispered Morbidity & Exhumed Remnants
Reviewed by Drew McCarthy
Bringing together the ferocity of Cannibal Corpse and the technical ability of Suffocation, Seattle death metallers Degraved deliver an album of utter brutality. Whispered Morbidity & Exhumed Remnants is the reissue of the bands combined intital demo and debut EP.
Degraved are one of those bands, where the music that they make is what the best death metal has and should always be, uncompromising, macabre and grizzly. The opening song, Crematortured is proof positive of such macabre meandering, as we get dragged into the filthy, fetid and labouring dynamics before the percussion suddenly picks up the pace and we are chopped up by blades of bleak gloominess.
Compulsory Bloodletting is grim and obscene as a stark, blazing riff manically swirls beneath the surface, while Reduced To Bone And Ash is about as apt a title for a song as you can find. The guitars again boast the vile trudging found on the previous song that sucks you deep into the abyss, before being hammered again by another mid tempo act of drudgery, while also incorporating the subtle use of synths, which is something that I have not heard on any other death metal album, though it definitely works and adds another layer to an already impressive release.
The sludgy abrasiveness of the bass and drums spread throughout and is most apparent on Exhumed Remnants, a song which a band like Crowbar would be proud of. However, if I had to pick a song that stands out the most to me on the album, it would have to be Corpse Fermentation, there is just something about the riff on that particular song that is absolutely pummelling.
Degraved have managed to push the boundaries of what is expected from a death metal band, Whispered Morbidity has enough of what has always made Death Metal an incredibly captivating genre, blood thirsty lyrics punctuated by meaty riffs and at times, an almost infectious groove.
