Mors Verum‘s canvas is complete.
Five years after their last release, Lyndon Quadros (vocals, Ischemic), Mrudul Kamble (guitar/bass, Ischemic, Blood Brain Barrier), and Greg Carvalho (drums, Æpoch), now joined by Spencer Mitchell (bass, Cerbearus, Mudpit Mabel), have signed with Transcending Obscurity Records for the release of their new EP, Canvas.
Bloodied Teeth immediately throws us into the deep end: extremely saturated sound, complex riffs and a thick mix, both in terms of the instrumentals and the cavernous vocals. Once the surprise has passed, we happily let ourselves be rolled over by the rocky and jerky avalanche, which nevertheless allows us a more groovy moment that becomes disturbing before the violence resumes, leading to the equally dissonant and elaborate Your Apocalypse. While we might believe in a little tranquility in the early moments of the song, it quickly ignites and offers us explosions of fury guided by a wild blast between two almost melodious passages managed by the guitar, which retains its heavy and ponderous touch until the very last moment, finally giving way to Serenade, which starts off in anguish. The band slowly builds up the pressure to finally deliver an oppressive sound fueled by palm muting and crazy tapping that hypnotizes us as much as it abuses us, before letting Canvas follow suit with a fairly slow rhythm that accelerates to unleash all its power and tangled riffs. The rhythm becomes more minimalist, keeping us in suspense as the instruments repeat their patterns or modify them slightly while the ghostly touches act freely, then the band assaults us again and reinforces its riffs before handing over to Mortal, the last track, which starts calmly, then imperceptibly ignites and finally knocks us out with extremely thick, millimeter-precise jolts that erupt regularly, then abandon us for good.
With an approach as heavy as it is complex, Mors Verum has crafted a masterpiece with this EP. Canvas remains firmly rooted in death metal, but doesn’t hesitate to explode, revealing its dissonant Tech/Prog touches and burying us beneath them.
85/100