Ritual of Infinity

Death metal in its purest state is a surprisingly difficult element to isolate. This could be because the disparate interpretations of the form on both sides of the Atlantic based their approaches on very different antecedents – thrash, punk, NWOBHM etc. Or it could that death metal as it is understood today – a set of techniques and aesthetics wholly distinct from other forms of metal – didn’t really exist in the late 1980s, so no one was consciously setting out to create a “pure” form of this brand new iteration of extreme metal. And by the time the genre had solidified into a self-conscious entity, artists had already begun to define themselves in opposition to – or integration with – whatever loose set of musical nodes it amounted to. Death marched off into progressive territory, At the Gates explored the limits of melody in extreme music, and Incantation opened the door to doom, to name a few examples.

Of course pure interpretations of the genre persisted, a Suffocation or an Obituary for example, but they began to look conspicuous by their refusal to develop their sound in anything other than small, incremental steps. The same could be said of Morpheus Descends. For that reason it could be interesting (to explore this album a form of “pure” of death metal. They Morpheus Descends offer a fine example of the New York style. The hardcore influence that crept into death metal via Suffocation is well documented, but Morpheus Descends took a similar but entirely distinct approach.

‘Ritual of Infinity’ was their sole LP Descends. Although considered only a second tier classic by many of the internet’s self-appointed archivists, for sheer impact measured against actual runtime, this may be a contender for one of the most significant half an hour’s worth of death metal ever recorded. Released in 1992, this album bears enough similarities to Suffocation’s ‘Effigy of the Forgotten’ for it to forever live in the latter’s shadow. But ‘Ritual of Infinity’ is very much its own beast. The hardcore and thrash trappings are certainly there, with d-beats colliding against heavy breakdowns and the gut punch of densely packed technical riffing.

But Morpheus Descends tap into the malevolence of death metal that was often lacking on the over excited barrages of a Suffocation. Morpheus Descends combine this dense and percussive approach to death metal with some mid-paced passages that scream Incantation or even Bolt Thrower for their earthy, imposing walls of sound. In settling on riffs for more than a handful of bars and centring them with a classically “evil” key signature, it lends the music tension and atmosphere that supervenes on the otherwise strictly business production values.

On that note we should mention the mix, which is a little rough around the edges. The snare drum is tinny as fuck, with some of the subtlety of the double-kick and fills lost in the fudge created by gear not quite up to the task of capturing the intensity of the performance. The guitar tone attempts to compensate for this by offering a distortion clear enough to shine a light on the detailed riffs, whilst still exhibiting a heaviness capable of making those mid-paced passages suitably impactful. The result tends to overwhelm the mix. When all the instruments are synced up, pounding double bass drums, tremolo picked riffs, and thundering basslines, the speakers seem to creak under the weight of articulation, which although probably accidental only serves to heighten the overall impact of the music. Vocals are low and guttural, finding the perfect balance for distorted vocals between dark atmosphere and rhythmic intrigue.

‘Ritual of Infinity’ – despite one of thousands of forgotten or half remembered classic from the 1990s that never stuck in the zeitgeist in the same way as a ‘Legion’ or a ‘Cause of Death’ – deserves to be remembered as a work of balances. Morpheus Descends were an archetype of death metal’s intellectual elements that were reaching fruition at this time, rhythmic interplay, challenging tempo changes, and densely complex riffing. But they supplement these rather cold and clinical aspects of death metal with spirit. There is a pronounced horror influence beneath this music, a willingness to indulge in the overtly ugly aspects of life, so fascinating to metal at the time, and utilise these to give this otherwise straightforward format an unnerving yet infectious atmosphere.

For all their bluntness, energy, and aggression, both these albums are works of subtlety. It encapsulates a valid interpretations of death metal in its purest state. But it is not backward looking, they were not screaming for a simpler time and begging for us to return to first principles. They offered nuanced and deeply layered works in their own right. For that reason the appeal remains understated, subtle, but no less rewarding as a result. ‘Ritual of Infinity’ is an album that retains a distinct and unique sense of its own identity that emerges from the relatively common trappings of genre it was pieced from.

Originally published at Hate Meditations

Morpheus Descended. Where? This album tells us he descended right into the chaos of Hell, and he recorded some of the sounds from that particular region of Hell, otherwise known as New York. The result was a slab of hardcore, raw and evil death metal from the wonderful early 90's NYDM scene that spawned Cannibal Corpse, Malevolent Creation, Suffocation, Immolation, and the list goes on. Of course, not every band gets the proper recognition, whether that be justified, or just a 6 carat run of bad luck. Today we are looking at Morpheus Descends' 1992 debut, and only effort, Ritual of Eternity, a powerful and brutal record, well worth our time.

The record fades in, and so begins the 32 minutes of old school death metal. What still hangs around in my brain are the memorable riffs throughout. The riffs are memorable and they're in good quantity. Every song has one or two to really enjoy. The rawness and aggression is simple, effective, and cheap sounding (definitely a plus here) The record mixes sections of typical death metal speed, with mid-tempo sections that have some tasty riffs. You'll find yourself appreciating the well-crafted and catchy riffs of the mid-tempo sections rather than the speed-sections, because when it comes to mid tempo sections, the band definitely exceeds in riff writing. The speedier sections are a nice touch though, definitely don't hurt the recording and are laden with good riffs. My favorite part of this record is the usage of bass, (see Corpse Under Glass) as like the Rottrevore record, bass-breaks are here. The solos are chaos and I love a good whammy bar swinging solo. The movie samples are also a nice touch to the recording. Now it's time to talk about that thick, raw production.

The production is a cheap, noisy affair, but serves the music well, as the riffs are digestible, bass audible, and the drums are really really nice, I especially like them in the slower sections of the record. The double bass sounds awesome, and speaking of bass, the bass tone and guitar tone really get along very well, they marry and slay each distorted well enough! Not much more to say besides some songs have a different sound due to the fact that this album was recorded in different places. It's not that big of a deal, the songs are all raw anyway.

All in all, I elect an 88 for this recording. It's good, raw and fun old school death metal. What a time to be alive in death metal, the early 90's, and what better places besides Tampa, New York, and Sweden? Well, apparently Iceland had something to say as well, as we will see in the next review in the One Album Wonder Series! Sororicide's 1991 debut, The Entity. Other than that, I definitely recommend this record. Something for a day of delving into the 90's NYDM scene. Enjoy!

-Nolan

New York has always been a hot bed for groundbreaking music, and death metal is no exception. During the late 80's and early 90's, many death metal bands were forming in the NY/NJ/PA metro area, and finding ways to stand out from the emerging death metal scenes around the world. Many today will think of bands like Suffocation, Incantation, and Immolation when it comes to NYDM, but Morpheus Descends should also be on people's radar when it comes to discussing the development of that sound.

Formed under the name Morpheus in 1990, the band put out a couple demos and an EP before recording and releasing "Ritual of Infinity" in 1992. At this point, Suffocation had already put out "Effigy of the Forgotten" a year earlier, which featured a barrage of technical riffing, blasting drums, thrashy hooks, and crushing breakdowns. These elements, with perhaps the exception of the thrash influences, really came to define what NYDM was about. Morpheus Descends certainly embodied similar characteristics, but not quite as thrashy.

"Ritual of Infinity" is an odd debut album - it was recorded in 3 different sessions throughout 1992, so there's a bit of fluctuation between songs with the production. Thankfully, because the band recorded at the same studio each time, the difference isn't too jarring. In fact, the first session of this recording was released as a demo under the Morephus moniker before the rest of the record was recorded. The guitars have a bit of a Morrisound/Scott Burns copycat tone, and the drums have the kick drum really up front with lots of clicky attack. The only thing I really notice between the three recording sessions is that kick drum is louder on some tracks. A lot of NYDM would try sounding like this, with buzzier sounding guitars and similarly clicky drum sounds. This is a little dryer sounding than their peers in Suffocation, but it lends a bit of a cult vibe to the record.

As for the music itself, Morpheus Descends crafted a brutal, evil sounding album that still manages to have hooks you can sink into. "Corpse Under Glass" is likely the catchiest song on this record, with that evil sounding intro being quite unforgettable. There's a good amount of chunky breakdowns throughout the record that have a lot in common with Suffocation, and many NYDM bands based their sound off this, such as Pyrexia and Internal Bleeding. Morpheus Descends have a better sense of groove and variety in these kind of breakdowns, and they don't sound as mechanical or "slam" like later bands would try and do. There's a fair amount of variety in the riffing too, with some riffs sounding like a New York version of Bolt Thrower, as well as some tremolo picking over blastbeats or double kick sections.

Everything that would come to define death metal in the early 90's can be found here. This is clearly a step in death metal's evolution, and unlike many contemporaries like Morbid Angel, Revenant, Pestilence, etc, there's no immediately apparent thrash influence. The low, guttural vocals also take it to that next realm beyond thrash metal. The riffs definitely have a little bit of finger twisting going on, but it's not quite as technical as Suffocation, which makes them a little easier to get stuck in your head.

A lot of brutal death metal owes its sound to these seminal NYDM bands, and Morpheus Descends were without question innovators of their regional sound. It's a shame they couldn't keep a stable line up for the rest of the 90's, as never released another full length again. They did do some EPs and demos after, but with member changes, they started to experiment with their sound, utilizing more dissonance and even adding some black metal elements into the mix. Thankfully, this material is far from forgotten, as it's been reissued a few times. Not only that, but there's a discography box set on Dark Descent Records with some remixing/remastering for some of it. This is absolutely a classic death metal record, and no metal collection is complete without this regional sound defining album.

Ritual of Infinity is a death metal album that doesn't break any boundaries or have a super deep message, it is just simply crushing, powerful, death metal and it has such as thick, massive sound to it that it defines the sound of New York death metal. If you want to know what New York style death metal sounds like you should listen to this album. From the very first song you hear a gradual crescendo leading into the very atonal riff of “The Way of All Flesh,” and Jeff Reimer's deep growls kick in, and from then on, all hell breaks loose. Something Morpheus Descends is able to do very well in every song is cram a lot of music in a condensed time space. What I mean by that is that even though these songs aren’t that long these men are constantly changing time signatures throughout the music and every song here has unpredictable patterns interwoven into the music whether it is the constantly changing drums or guitar riffs. Why I call this album one of the heaviest ever is because while the production isn't the best, the guitars have a lot of weight to them. This albums heaviness isn't artificial and what I mean by artificial heaviness is metalcore/deathcore that is made heavy by its ultra-crisp production and just chugging endlessly on two notes. This album oozes heaviness because of how dark and morbid the riffs are, giving them a lot of weight and strength. The riffs here are dark, foreboding, and make you feel uneasy when you hear them. There's no going back to a happy place or a major key, this is all minor, diminished, augmented, and ugly sounding to give you a sense of uneasiness and pulverization that many bands now fail to replicate death metal or core genres otherwise.

The highlights of this album are definitely the extremely dense and heavy riffing. The guitars are extremely down tuned and muddy and the bass is very audible as well. One of the things that irk me in death metal is inaudible bass, but this album provides very audible bass and it is very high in the mix. The drumming by Sam Inzerra is extremely complex. He definitely plays the most complex patterns in the music. His drumming is very varied sometimes he'll throw in a snare roll in the song, and then he'll throw in some complex tom fills, and difficult high-hat hits. His drumming is excellent to say the least. Also the kick drum production on this album is very loud. The standout tracks are the first track, Corpse under Glass which possesses no joke one of the heaviest, most crushing riffs ever made which starts at the 30 second mark. That riff is impossible not to headbang to. This album reminds me heavily of Suffocation's Effigy of the Forgotten and Malevolent Creation's The Ten Commandments in the way that it still retains some thrash elements but also has many grind elements to it. For example the guitars throw in a lot of tremolo picked riffs as well as crushing slam/brutal death metal riffs. The drumming provides blast beats, thrash skank beats, as well as very fluid use of toms, snare, high hats, crash cymbal, and kick drums. The thrash influence is still there but in sparring amounts. The vocals are deep, but they retain more of a throaty rasp rather than the ultra-guttural death metal vocals of early Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse, or Incantation. They are still very good and powerful, as Jeff Reimer (RIP) did a great job on the vocals.

One of my few gripes about this album is the very muddy production. Back in the day critics criticized the albums mixing job. Some of the riffs get lost because the production makes the guitars sound very muddy and because they are downtuned to such low frequencies it makes it extremely difficult to discern some of the riffs on the album. Also the kick drums are far too loud on this album. In the song Corpse under Glass the loudest instrument by far are the kick drums which completely dominate the mix. Another problem with the production is that sometimes when the riffs are tremolo picked they literally sound like a buzzing of bees. The guitar solo tone on this album is irritating to the ears because of how low end everything is and how messy the production on this album is it makes the guitar solos sound shrill and hurts the ears because of how the production worked out, plus they are devoid of melody and consist of mostly atonal shredding. I wish they got someone like Colin Richardson to produce this album, because even on a cheap budget he had the ability to make an album sound like it was produced for thousands of dollars or Harris Johns because he is a wizard on the production kit. Someone like Scott Burns would not work on an album like this because the albums with extremely heavy low end which he produced (Considered dead, Butchered at Birth) sound like shit; he works better for thrashy oriented death metal. Those are my gripes with this album but other than that this album delivers the heaviness to the table and it absolutely crushes.

Since this "best metal albums"-series is starting to appear a little lopsided towards more well-known albums again, I think the timing is perfect to throw another bit of a curve ball since "best" does not always mean "most famous" or vice versa. Morpheus Descends is not a band that is entirely unknown, or known only to die-hard tape traders from the early 90s, especially now that they've been picked up by Dark Descent Records. However, they never were and still aren't a band that achieved anything near noticeable fame. In fact I doubt they are known at all outside the circles of those curious about what the New York death metal scene has to offer besides the big names and those curious about hidden gems in old school death metal, and both those groups are limited in number. To this day you are more likely to have heard of Incantation knock-off #74553 than this band - a band which ironically is pretty much on par with the Incantation original quality-wise - though not all that similar in style.

The type of death metal Morpheus Descends play is actually not that straight-forward to define, since you could group them in either old school death metal or brutal death metal, and yet they are not really all the way on either side of the fence. They're generally more brutal than the average old school death metal band, but also generally more old school than the average brutal death metal band. It's not like they mix elements of both in a way that'd be the most obvious to imagine, as in first an old school death metal part, then a brutal death metal part, and so on. Rather it can be described in the way that a child does not look half like its father and half like its mother, but rather a perfect intermingling of elements from both, with a distinct identity of its own. It's a unique product of the New York scene in the early 90s, something you could only possibly find right there, right then.

If I was forced to draw comparisons, the Immolation debut would be the closest match I can think of, but Morpheus Descends were far, far ahead of what Immolation were doing at the time. It's Dawn of Possession not only on steroids but an array of stimulants as well. Where Immolation at the time played pretty simple stuff (compared to what they would later win acclaim for), Morpheus Descends crammed as much material into the tight space of a few minutes per song as possible. Dark, menacing riffs of the unique New York death metal variety follow each other in quick succession, riff after riff, they don't let up, and every riff is better than the last. And to spice things up they often bridge two riffs with a technical but commanding half-riff that only lasts for a few notes. There's something going on constantly, they never give things time to settle down. There is a commanding presence to the dominance of riffs that won't let you escape, you are sucked in relentlessly, powerless to the primal yet complex force these songs command.

It's impossible to get over just how good this band was, especially for 1992 when technical leanings were still in their infancy. I would not call Morpheus Descends a technical death metal bands by any means, they are too much of a cavernous old school act in essence for that, but the complexity and precision of the instrumentation makes drawing comparisons to the technical side of the death metal genre inevitable. And what makes it so good is that everything has substance. They don't string up random notes, everything has well thought-out progressions that set moods and create atmosphere, it's all highest quality stuff that is both incredible catchy and incredibly intelligent. For the nutjobs who compare death metal to classical music, Ritual of Infinity might actually be a good candidate, because it has that perfect combination of drawing the listener into another world created by the music, while at the same time keeping the listener's mind busy with the perfectly crafted complexity of its songwriting. Morpheus Descends certainly knew how to turn the dark and malevolent riffing and song structuring of New York death metal into an experience.

But that isn't all. Aside from the complexity and intelligence of the material, those of us who don't delude ourselves into thinking we're listening to the new Prokofiev, those of us who want something to profanely bang our heads to, Ritual of Infinity also gives us all we need. With all the aforementioned elements in the mix, the songwriting on this album is also incredibly catchy, with a commanding (using that word a lot and it really applies) intensity urging us to swing our hair windmill-style. The sheer amount of quality of its riffs and the amazing songwriting contrasting these riffs with each other creating tension and release on a relentless level, it pumps your body full of adrenaline and gives you a real rush of undirected fury for which there is no other release but to raise your fist, throw the horns, flail your head around like a madman.

This is really death metal at its best: Dark, menacing, complex, intelligent and fucking awesome to rock out with your cock out to. It unites all the qualities you could desire from a death metal album. That this album does not get the recognition it deserves is a crime against art. Best thing to do for the moment is to get the new Dark Descent compilation immediately, skip the awful new songs and go straight to this album, and prepare yourself for an onslaught of every quality of greatness death metal offers at its highest level.


--- Originally written for http://droneriot.blogspot.com

While my personal favorite year for death metal would be 1991, there were still plenty of fantastic releases after the year that saw numerous landmark releases. One such release was New York's own Morpheus Descends' debut full-length "Ritual of Infinity." There's a reason why these guys were one of the most popular bands in the New York scene (a pretty prolific scene in its own right, though not as much so as Florida) and that's because their music was fucking brutal. And, no, I don't mean brutal as in Suffocation or Cryptopsy kind of brutal, I mean in more of a relentless thrashing way much like Malevolent Creation, Solstice (US) and Sinister were doing. A simple way of putting things would be to say they were the death metal equivalent of a band like Demolition Hammer or Morbid Saint, absolutely crushing and destructive.

The majority of the riffs on "Ritual of Infinity" gravitate towards incredibly heavy midpaced riffs which are more than capable of breaking some unwilling soul's neck, as well as some lethal tremolo bursts. There's no way you could listen to "Corpse Under Glass" and not headbang, it just doesn't happen, especially with the awesome riffs that are beyond heavy and catchy. You throw in some very heavy, yet typical death metal vocals with the amazingly-toned bass and violent drumming, and that's a recipe for absolute havoc. The opening sequence on "Enthralled to Serve" is pure devastation, and I can't recall many other simple tremolo sections being as memorable or punishing as this one. "Residual Kill" shows off the band's ability to play some slower paced music, but only for a while before it turns into a thrashing onslaught of immense proportions. Honestly, not much more could be said about "Ritual of Infinity" and Morpheus Descends' near masterpiece. All of the songs are just great mixes of aggresive riffs, abrasive vocals, and a stellar rhythm section. There's no intent on sounding evil like other death metal bands, and there's surely no intent on showing off some technical ability, this is just unbridled insanity.

Highlights
"Corpse Under Glass"
"Enthralled to Serve"
"Ritual of Infinity"

Originally written for Nightmare Reality Webzine.
nightmarerealitywebzine.blogspot.com

I first have to start of this review by saying how surprised how much I have come to enjoy this album. I have always been a more Floridian style US death metal fan. Whilst been unaware of the New York scene for a few years I decided to check it out. I was always put off by reputation as I heard a lot of it was to influence slam death etc. However I barley hear it in this album which is a good thing. Along with other such noteworthy acts as Immolation and Incantation.Morpheus Descends are a part of a pretty fucking powerful tri-force that came from that scene.

History lesson aside this album coming in at just 32 minutes is a half hour bludgeoning in the art of death metal. The band deliver an arsenal of riffs over the awesome drumming of Ken Faggio. There are thrash infused head banging moments, mid tempo crushing proto type brutal death metal riffs and the odd slow moment on the album. The arrangements all have enough elements to make them interesting and to keep your attention. The production is pretty low end heavy. And loses some clarity of the riffs, the drums kick drum is pretty loud in the mix also. The drumming switches between stock death metal beats and some pretty inventive ideas in terms of feeling and fills. Just listen to the off beat snare work in the opening track. The vocals are good even if they are a bit standard, and are just what you would expect from this scene. However even though they are standard I just can't help loving them and I'm sure most death metal fans will enjoy this vocal performance.

Ritual of Infinity is a very solid and very brutal 30 minute affair. It has a pretty good reputation with fans of this scene and I can say it is quiet deserved. The highlights for me have to be the opening two track onslaught of The Way of All Flesh. With a pounding brutal opening before going in to mid tempo brutality. Corpse Under Glass with some of the most thrashy riffs of the album on offer. Trephanation for the same reasons, with my favourite riff on the album around the half way point, a true neck breaker. As far as getting a hard copy of this it more than likely isn't going to happen. However thanks to file sharing we can all listen to music that was sadly forgotten about and left behind like a lot of good old death metal.

Ritual of Infinity holds its own against their counterparts from the old New York scene and should be in every death metal fan's music library.

Morpheus Descends is, without a doubt, one of the best death metal bands out there. It’s raw, loud, and fast which is what death metal should be. With the release of Ritual of Infinity, Morpheus Descends made sure that they would be remembered as one of the leaders of northeastern death metal and one of the greatest death metal acts to come out of the United States period.

The production on this CD isn’t great, but then again very few death metal bands actually do have topnotch production anyways so this isn’t a big deal. The unrefined and unpolished feel of this CD almost helps the listener to really get a feel for Ritual of Infinity though, so don’t not buy this CD just because it doesn’t sound crisp and clean. Some of the better tracks are Accelerated Decrepitude, Immortal Coil, and the title track, Ritual of Infinity. Each song brings something new to this CD in their brutality, speed, and intensity, but then again, the whole CD is just one big mess of hard as shit death metal. I highly recommend checking out Morpheus Descends if you haven’t already, your eardrums will thank you for it.