Morbid Sacrifice is a band from Bellefonte, a minuscule city of 6000 souls which is also the county seat for Centre County, which roughly equals to saying it's a pinpoint amidst a sea of earth. Out of this tiny community we have Morbid Sacrifice, an old-school Death Metal band which released this "Severed Death" album in 2002. However since the print run was so limited Open Grave decided to give it a second chance and repress it for us to hear. I have my own doubts why they did it, honestly... why did they pick THIS thing up? Well the packaging is sufficient, not astonishing but cool, with a cover that's a detail of Sadec Monsatery in Czech rep. (too bad for the punchhole in the booklet). You maybe are not familiar with the name but the pictures of the chandelier of this monastery can be found on 1 Black Metal album out of 5 so you probably have seen VERY often. I am also sure I have already seen a cover artwork like this somewhere, but can't remember when.

I gave this disc four full spins before writing down this review. You know I am obsessed with old-school Death Metal (which is still my favourite genre of all) so when I find an atypical American band that plays like 1990 I really crave to like it. However this is really too much even for me. The opening riff is a true jewel, and I was expecting blasting, obscure Death Metal in the vein of Decrepit or Deteriorot, but the music is just something that don't have "it". Track two is a damn agony, with a sami-classic heavy metal ride with static grunts which really do not mix at all. All the songs in this album sound very, very unripe, kind of the very first rehearsal of your local rock band. There is one riff per song, which is played at different speed, from the power-chugs tarantella to fast accelerations, and the whole effect is to sum it up bluntly, pathetic. This is a recording that even trying to project my brain 16 years ago I cannot manage to like. This might be a rehearsal but it does not sound mature even for a demo. The guttural grunts are so stale they might as well been recorded separately. And I really don't like these guitar riffs, which really says it all. Too classic metal for my tastes, and way, waaay too unexperienced. These parappa parappa power chords are a real pain... there is some attempt at spicing up things with bridges that remind of right-wing ballads a la Rahowa, but they really don't work. Nothing works here save some fast parts. Sorry.

 

Tracks (8): 1 - The Offering 2 - Buried Alive 3 - Hamping the Dead 4 - Misogynicide 5 - Severed Death 6 - Divinely Exhumed 7 - Whom I Serve 8 - Deliverance of the Beast