Moribund

Anasarca’s Moribund is a truly death obsessed album, all lyrics written by members of death row, some already having been executed at the time of this release, and just look at the cover. Only you are left to get what you want out of it, but whether you feel compassion or disgust or even apathy from the concept, the music kicks ass all the same.

Moribund isn’t too innovative as far as death metal goes, but Anasarca knows death metal and do it amazingly well. Look for your brutals and thrashs and technicals and melodics elsewhere, this is simply death metal and death metal the way it should be done. The riffs aren’t very complex but nicely crafted, good solid riffs seem like they come easy to this band, with just the right amount of repetition to stick before moving onto something else. The song flow is also unbelievably effective, though I’ll confess a few riffs go on for a little too long. The drumming supports the riffs spotlessly, sure that’s the goal in any album, but here the band chemistry is real obvious and the instrumentation/vocals are all so very in sync with one another. Which brings us to this: there’s no moments where any one instrument tries to dominate the sound. On the one hand, this makes for a consistent team effort, and on the other hand this is probably one of the reasons why the music stagnates at times. If there was a solo or the drummer boasted some mad skills I sure as fuck would have no problem with it.

Though Anasarca starts off with a nice dose of speed, as the album progresses a lot of melody is incorporated, and even some slow and melancholic parts are tossed into the mix. The final song “Of Life and Death” fittingly enough is the most poignant track, almost a ballad, again based off a riff that’s hardly technically impressive but is drenched in sorrow, and brings Anasarca to a close with the painful words “added to the pile/ one final, inaudible sigh.” The final verdict on this album? A little room for improvement, but overall it’s solid, consistent and quality death metal, as well as a fresh breath of air from gore, satanism, and all the other ideas standard in death metal territory. Truly death-focused music. Go get this album, it’s not hard to find and worth every cent.

Anasarca is one of the heaviest bands I've ever heard that actually pull off such a brutal sound without being a mess of instruments. The guitars have a very evil, dissonant tone to them and are obviously heavily distorted with a thick top end that works very well with the shitty production. Not that the shitty production is bad, it gives it a sort of muddy quality that still lets the essentials shine through.

Michael Dormann's is a very talented vocalist with a great soaring growl rather than a gurgling grunt, though he at times displays his versatility in a raspy howl or shriek. Herbert Grimm gives an outstanding display on drums, with some extremely well done double bass and other standard DM fair, but he also gives the band an abstract sense of melody that helps give the riffs some substance and make the music actually move and flow. The bass has been mixed out almost entirely, except for a few spots where you can "feel" more than hear the extra "umph" it adds in some spots where desired. The band gives a very tight, coordinated performance.

This is a must have release for any fan of death metal.

(Edited: 11:26 PM 12/9/07)