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Album Review – Morbific / Bloom of the Abnormal Flesh (2025)

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This rotten-to-the-core Death Metal trio from Finland is back with their ruthless third studio album, their best, darkest and most disgusting melding of form and content to date.

A rotten-to-the-core, festering, mouldering and disgusting Death Metal trio (de)formed in the filthy and profaned boneyard of Kitee, Finland in early 2020, featuring Jusa Janhonen on vocals and bass, Olli Väkeväinen  on the guitars, and Onni Väkeväinen on drums, Morbific are ready to demolish our putrid souls with their third full-length album, titled Bloom of the Abnormal Flesh, a ruthless display of classic Death Metal that follows up on the horror and insanity of their 2021 debut Ominous Seep of Putridity and their 2022 sophomore album Squirm Beyond the Mortal Realm. Recorded by Jesse Räsänen at Vaskela Metal Forgery, produced by Morbific, mixed by the band’s own Jusa Janhonen, mastered by Mikko Saastamoinen, and displaying a sick cover art by Chase Slaker (with additional art by Martyrdoom Illustrations), Bloom of the Abnormal Flesh is undoubtedly Morbific’s best melding of form and content, conveying its dark, disgusting, and unconventional aura across every element.

A sinister intro quickly explodes into a filthy, raw Death Metal attack titled Smut Club (For the Chosen Scum), with Jusa roaring deeply supported by the bestial drums by Onni, and the trio goes full Death Metal in Panspermic Blight, pounding our putrid souls with their scorching riffs and demented beats and vociferations. Menagerie of Grotesque Trophies carries a beautiful title for a display of pure savagery, with the gore infested guttural by Jusa sending shivers down our spines; followed by Promethean Mutilation, living up to the legacy of 90’s Death Metal, sounding ruthless and vile with Olli extracting sheer aggression from his riffs and solos. And Womb of Deathless Deterioration (Trapped in the Essence of Putrescence) is another slab of brutality by Morbific, exhaling heaviness thanks to the grim roars by Jusa, despite sounding a bit generic if compared to the previous songs.

Then the Stygian, horror movie-like interlude Stifling Stagnant Reek will darken your minds and thoughts before Crusading Necrotization brings forward the trio at their most inhumane shape and form, blending their core Death Metal with the obscurity of Blackened Doom. Hydraulic Slaughter also showcases a “charming” name for a beyond heavy and demonic tune led by the razor-edged riffage by Olli; whereas From Inanimate Dormancy offers our damned ears almost six minutes of violence and gore blasted by the band, or in other words, it’s a headbanging tune led by the infernal growling by Jusa. Bloom of the Abnormal Flesh (A Travesty of Human Anatomy) is yet another six-minute descent into a world of violence and obscurity, with the crushing drums by Onni hammering our cranial skulls nonstop in great fashion, and last but not least, they still have energy left for one final attack titled Slithering Decay, offering two minutes of classic Death Metal spearheaded by Olli’s savage riffs.

The unrelenting, filthy Finnish bastards of Morbific are waiting for you on Facebook and on Instagram with more of their gore infested music, their tour dates and so on, and don’t forget to also stream all of their demented creations on Spotify or on any other platform available out there. Furthermore, in order to show them your utmost support and your deep passion for Death Metal, you can purchase a copy of the infernal Bloom of the Abnormal Flesh from their own BandCamp or from the Me Saco Un Ojo Records’ BandCamp, proving you’re a loyal servant of all things Death Metal. I guess it won’t take long for us to hear from Morbific again in the near future, blasting our faces with another slab of violence and gore like what’s found in their new album, and I bet you’re all eager for more of the depraved music crafted by such an amazing trio from Finland.

Best moments of the album: Panspermic Blight, Promethean Mutilation and Bloom of the Abnormal Flesh (A Travesty of Human Anatomy).

Worst moments of the album: Womb of Deathless Deterioration (Trapped in the Essence of Putrescence).

Released in 2025 Memento Mori/Me Saco Un Ojo

Track listing
1. Smut Club (For the Chosen Scum) 3:48
2. Panspermic Blight 3:51
3. Menagerie of Grotesque Trophies 4:35
4. Promethean Mutilation 3:29
5. Womb of Deathless Deterioration (Trapped in the Essence of Putrescence) 5:04
6. Stifling Stagnant Reek 1:25
7. Crusading Necrotization 4:16
8. Hydraulic Slaughter 3:53
9. From Inanimate Dormancy 5:58
10. Bloom of the Abnormal Flesh (A Travesty of Human Anatomy) 6:01
11. Slithering Decay 2:04

Band members
Jusa Janhonen – vocals, bass
Olli Väkeväinen  – guitars, backing vocals
Onni Väkeväinen – drums

Album Review – Insomnium / Anno 1696 (2023)

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Finland’s masters of Melodic Death Metal return with a bold and sinister new album, taking us back into the dark times of the witch prosecutions in Northern Europe.

Based on a short story by Niilo Sevänen (just like their 2016 album Winter’s Gate), Anno 1696, the ninth studio album by Finnish Melodic Death Metal institution Insomnium, takes the listeners back into the dark times of the witch prosecutions in Northern Europe, famine and superstition. Mixed by Jaime Gomez Arellano at Arda Recorders, mastered by Tony Lindgren at Fascination Street Recording Studios, displaying a classy artwork by Sami Makkonen, and featuring guest keyboards by Coen Janssen (Epica, Amahiru), the follow-up to their 2019 effort Heart like a Grave doesn’t disappoint at all, proving why this Joensuu, Pohjois-Karjala-based unity currently comprised of vocalist and bassist Niilo Sevänen, guitarists Ville Friman, Markus Vanhala and Jani Liimatainen, and drummer Markus Hirvonen has become one of the pillars of the genre in the entire Scandinavia, delivering first-class Melodic Death Metal album after album for our total delight.

Acoustic guitars and tribal beats ignite the opening tune 1696, being gradually joined by several other elements and evolving into a demolishing feast of their trademark Melodic Death Metal, with Niilo’s growls matching perfectly with their melodious guitar lines; followed by White Christ, presenting strong, classic lyrics flawlessly declaimed by the iconic Sakis Tolis of Rotting Christ together with Niilo (“In the name of our Saviour and Lord / In the name of our Monarch and the Crown / I’ve come to bring the law and justice to this land / I’ve come to bring the light and grace of the Christ”) in a lecture in Melodic Black and Death Metal. Then we have Godforsaken, featuring Johanna Kurkela (Altamullan Road, Auri, Eye of Melian) on vocals, adding a touch of finesse and melancholy to the overall result, accompanied by the massive beats by Markus Hirvonen and the piercing riffs by the band’s guitar triumvirate, flowing into the pure Insomnium tune Lilian, where a serene, delicate intro once again explodes into their unparalleled sound, showcasing an amazing job done by Ville, Markus Vanhala and Jani with their axes and, therefore, inviting us to headbang in pitch black darkness.

More of their poetic, bitterly cold lyrics is offered to us all in Starless Paths (“Cruel is the winter’s might / Dreadful the howl of wind / Beyond the pathless treks we roam / Where the church bells never toll”) while the music sounds extremely harmonious and dense from start to finish, and the band continues to distill their stylish Melodic Death Metal in The Witch Hunter, spearheaded by the classic beats by Markus Hirvonen while keeping the album as vibrant as it can be. The shortest of all tracks, titled The Unrest, begins in a similar acoustic way as the opening tune while Niilo darkly declaims the song’s words together with the clean vocals by Ville and Jani, and albeit being a good song it lacks the same energy from the others. Finally we’re treated to The Rapids, bringing forward a superb fusion of violence, melancholy, harmony and darkness by Insomnium, offering our avid ears almost eight minutes of their undisputed music. Moreover, Niilo roars deeply while his bandmates make sure the music remains imposing until the very last second, with their guitar solos piercing our souls majestically.

Perhaps the best way to fully understand everything Insomnium wanted to accomplish with Anno 1696 would be by watching this track by track video, and before or after you do so you can stream the album in its entirety on Youtube and on Spotify, being therefore properly immersed in the sinister world crafted by such important band from the Finnish scene. Also, don’t forget to start following them on Facebook and on Instagram, and above all that, to purchase the excellent Anno 1696 by clicking HERE or HERE. As already mentioned, the album is all about the witch prosecutions in Northern Europe, and there’s nothing better than the Stygian and melancholic music by Insomnium to guide us all through such dark and horrifying times.

Best moments of the album: White Christ, Lilian and The Rapids.

Worst moments of the album: The Unrest.

Released in 2023 Century Media

Track listing
1. 1696 6:18
2. White Christ 6:03
3. Godforsaken 8:35
4. Lilian 4:29
5. Starless Paths 7:48
6. The Witch Hunter 5:43
7. The Unrest 3:52
8. The Rapids 7:38

Japanese Edition Disc 2 – Songs of the Dusk
9. Flowers of the Night 5:28
10. Stained in Red 6:50
11. Song of the Dusk 9:43

Band members
Niilo Sevänen – lead vocals, bass
Ville Friman – guitars, clean vocals
Markus Vanhala – guitars
Jani Liimatainen – guitars, clean vocals
Markus Hirvonen – drums

Guest musicians
Sakis Tolis – vocals on “White Christ”
Johanna Kurkela – vocals on “Godforsaken”
Coen Janssen – keyboards