The Rotting Flesh

Morgatory666

Sadly, this is a posthumous release. "The Rotting Flesh" is a compilation of three recording […]
By Ricardo "Lebzul" Brenes
January 13, 2021
Morgatory666 - The Rotting Flesh album cover

Sadly, this is a posthumous release. "The Rotting Flesh" is a compilation of three recording sessions (demos) from back in 2014 and 2015, which include two of the band's line-ups, giving this album some sort of a side A and B to their short-lived history. Tracks 1-6 were recorded by original vocalist Tyler Peace and tracks 7-12 were recorded by Chuck Barnhouse respectively. Everything was tuned up and remastered for the album release. Both vocalists have different vocal sound and style providing thus some sort of separation in the band's overall sound. Tyler's vocals remind me of Mitch Harris in RIGHTEOUS PIGS, while Chuck's are more aggressive and almost have a Blackish pitch, I'd say, more typical of Melodic Death Metal bands or Grindcore bands, though, I'd say none do really go into the deep growl style.

Overall, the sound also changes, as I feel the first half of the album has a much more compact, deep sound and the second part sounds a bit rawer, yet, it's good enough for me to actually enjoy this second part of the album a bit more than the first one since to me, it is more aggressive and there's vocal style alternation as well from high pitch to a raspy growl during the songs, which creates a sense of variation. "Closed Casket Funeral" opens the album and as soon as you hear it, you feel an old school Swedish Death Metal sound to the guitars (although they are from Ohio, United States), then you hear the vocalist scream "why don't you just kill yourself?" and the whole sound gets into the groovy play of grindcore bands, without getting to extremes. Nice pick to start the album.

"Mangled by the Infected" is a more varied in content, going perhaps into the doom metal field there is even some stoner doom like riffing here that blends finely with the rest of the track which overall, has a quite mysterious aura. "Burnt Flesh Offering" is a great Death Metal track, everything sounds just right about it. The flipside of the coin would be that it is rather short, and at one third of the song it becomes just repetitive as if just trying to make it a bit longer.  "Died a Virgin, Buried a Whore" is where the record changes and I'd say the whole sound of the band also does in some ways. Chuck is on vocals and the style becomes more aggressive rather than deep. The fact that the production on this track seems to be rawer, may contribute to it.

"Fatal Warning" also delivers a straight forward, merciless blow of aggression into your face. It also has that full demo feeling to it when it comes to the sound, but pretty decent, as previously mentioned. One of my favorite tracks, also a bit more melodic, containing some nice leads too. The vocals and aggressive singing style brings me back to the first albums by CROWN OF THORNS/THE CROWN"The Rotting Flesh" has a quite eerie start, with a pretty heavy atmosphere and doomy vibe which slowly develops its pace into pure neck-breaking Death Metal.

This album also includes a nice cover of GUTTED's "Death Before Dismember".  It is always sad to say that a band no longer plays, but thanks to Morbid and Miserable Records the legacy of MORGATORY666 will not be lost. A nice addition to any fan of the old school Death and groovy Grind sound.

8 / 10

Excellent

Songwriting

7

Musicianship

8

Memorability

7

Production

8
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"The Rotting Flesh" Track-listing:
  1. Closed Casket Funeral
  2. Strangled at the Séance
  3. Murmurs of Lunacy
  4. Nailed to the Floor
  5. Mangled by the Infected
  6. Burnt Flesh Offering
  7. Died a Virgin, Buried a Whore
  8. Fatal Warning
  9. The Rotting Flesh
  10. Rotten Orfice
  11. Death Before Dismember
  12. Morgatory
Morgatory666 Lineup:

Pango - Bass
Jason Wilcox - Drums
Will335 - Guitars
Chuck Barnhouse - Guitars, vocals

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