Technical Death rises from the grave with Retromorphosis.
Created by four former Spawn of Possession members, Jonas Bryssling (guitar), Dennis Röndum (vocals), Christian Muenzner (guitar, ex-Obscura, ex-Necrophagist) and Erlend Caspersen (bass, The Allseeing I, Abhorrent, ex-Blood Red Throne…), the band recruited drummer KC Howard (Odius Mortem, ex-Decrepit Birth) and signed to Season of Mist, with whom they released their debut album, Psalmus Mortis.
The album gets off to a slow start with Obscure Exordium, an ominous and rather impressive introduction that gradually leads us towards violence, before allowing Vanished to plunge us in for good, as well as welcoming the vocal parts. The technicality of the musicians is obviously at the forefront of this track, which doesn’t hesitate to slow down and become almost hypnotic before sweeping us away again, but the band suddenly locks into darkness with Aunt Christie’s Will, a rather massive composition. Strikes and riffs follow one another as the vocalist rants, always letting complexity mingle with rage in a very coherent way, as on Never To Awake, where a few keyboards and harmonics make the atmosphere very heavy. The track is centered on waves of raw, jerky power that follow one another without interruption, before The Tree finally takes its place and crushes us with its fast but tortured rhythm, thanks in particular to an explosive bass. The lead parts are also troubled by a few airy touches, but violence is never far away, and it eventually throws us into Retromorphosis, an oppressive yet majestic creation that couples its fury with sublime slower passages. Darkness is also present within the piercing riffs, and it only ceases to give way to the nine minutes of the intriguing Machine, starting with this rather silent introduction that allows us to catch our breath. Once that’s over, it gives way to a mysterious rhythm where every dark nuance is expressed, letting the musicians weave their violence into slow or much livelier moments, exploiting every moment to fuel the long track before a climactic final, followed by Exalted Splendour which explodes in one fell swoop and hits us with its own definition of Death Metal, ever faster and angrier, even allowing itself some almost noisy passages.
With such a line-up, Retromosphosis left every technical Death Metal fan dreaming, and it’s undeniable that Psalmus Mortis has kept its word. The riffs are always precise and ferocious without overdoing it, but they also know how to make room for raw violence when necessary.
95/100