Deceased - Children of the Morgue

Angry Metal Guy 60

Virginia’s Deceased are about as cult as a metal band gets and over their 37 year career of evil they’ve harvested the best bits of traditional, thrash and death metal and stitched them together into shambling monstrosities. Evolving from death into grind and then death-thrash with ever-increasing melodic sensibilities, Deceased have always been a feral, shaggy beast unfit for polite company. Albums like Fearless Undead Machines and Surreal Overdose are stone-cold classics overlooked by far too many, and any Deceased album is guaranteed to be a mangy ball of undisciplined hyperactivity thanks to founder and brain trust King Fowley. This man lives, breathes and bleeds metal and he’s the reason Deceased are such an enduring and charming freakshow. With no new material since 2018s Ghostly White, King made fans wait patiently for new product, and 2024 finally sees eighth album Children of the Mogue splattered on the wall like a shit-guts souffle. Are you ready to savor the flavor?

I’m happy to report that the unhinged, foaming-at-the-mouth sound of classic Deceased is still present. The title track proves it as their classic blend of OSDM, thrash and classic metal runs apeshit amok over your face and chesticles before leaving you in a greasy dumpster behind an organ donation clinic. It’s exactly what you want from Deceased with King Fowley’s over-the-top death roars as good as ever, accented by riffs that leap from 80s thrash, to 90s caveman death and NWoBHM without warning. At various points you’ll hear bits of Slayer, Rigor Mortis, Autopsy and even Voivod, and with nearly 8 minutes to work with, the band has plenty of time to saw your ears off. Is it massively bloated? Fuck yes it is, but it’s a wild ride full of hobo wine and lead pipe beatings and it’s crazy entertaining. After a short doomy interlude, the band jumps over to an upbeat, punky style not far from Unto Others (Untoothers) on “Terronaut,” but this quickly gives way to spoken word terror tales and death-thrash hooliganism with catchy guitar bits. The 8-plus minutes of “The Gravedigger” are a bloody sled ride through an active abattoir and you’ll get kill-bolted in the cranium multiple times along the way as the band chugs, grooves, dooms, and deaths every which way they can. It’s a big ole can of corpse paste and alley cat piss, but you get accustomed to the lumpy consistency.

The urge to cram more and MOAR into nearly every track has long been a Deceased handicap and it is here too. “The Gravedigger” is way long, as is “Fed to Mother Earth,” and restraint goes right out the fucking window on 8-plus minute closer “Farewell (Taken to Forever)”. But where Metallica bugs the shit out of me when they elongate songs 3-5 minutes past the logical stopping point, it’s way more tolerable when these guys do it because they stuff so much berserk filling in the coffin crust. The madcap commitment to excess is endearing, but the album plays out like a hot oil wrestling match against a bunch of zaftig competitors — it’s slippery fun but they wear you down before the end. That said, cuts like “Eerie Wavelengths” and “Brooding Lament” hit hard because they’re shorter and laser-focused on curb-stomping your poser ass. At 55 minutes, Children of the Morgue requires effort to absorb in one sitting, and slicing off the FOUR interludes might have helped lessen the cadaver load. Still, there’s a cosmic ass-ton of fun to be had along the way.

King Fowley is a metal legend and should be given a lifetime achievement award. He handles drums, bass and vocals here and though he’s a multi-talented chap, it’s his insane blathering that keeps the lights on at Deceased Manor. He’s one of the most over-the-top frontmen in metal, genuinely going all in all the time with shouts, death roars, blackened cackles and everything else he can think of. He’s a big reason the band’s chaos soup style works and he’s nothing if not charismatic. Guitarist Mike Smith has been integral to their sound since 1995, throwing off vibrant trad, thrash, and death riffs in rapid succession while also venturing into Goth rock and punk. With long-time murder accomplice Shane Fuegal along for the ride, the guitar work is deranged, unpredictable and spicy, borrowing from everyone from Iron Maiden to Autopsy to Tribulation.

As with nearly every Deceased album, there are hits and some lesser moments, but nothing here is bad. The bloat is the main obstacle, but even on the longest cuts, the band delivers so much belligerent energy, that you may not care about the added baggage. Children of the Morgue is a fun, frantic outing with the classic Deceased sound and that’s all that matters. Pad the walls and strap yourself in, because this shit has big nuts in it.



Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hells Headbangers
Websites: facebook.com/deceasedofficial | instagram.com/deceasedupthetombstones
Releases Worldwide: August 30th, 2024

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