Returning with album #8, Deceased enters the realm of creating a concept album with Children of the Morgue.  Their last album, from six years ago, Ghostly White was a fantastic display of their death-thrashing madness, equipped with a plethora of good old ass-kicking heavy metal moments.  With roughly around the same running time Children of the Morgue has a whopping 12 songs in just under an hour with a few interludes thrown in, for good measure, which is needed for concept albums.

“Destination: Morgue” is a very brooding opening instrumental.  Extremely doomy and very horror-influenced.  Excellent to open with this, and it’s short and goes right into the title track.  “Children of the Morgue” opens with a sound not too far removed from their most melodic album, Supernatural Addiction.   This title track would not have been out of place on that album, as the opening guitar harmonies are quite excellent.  The speed is the perfect old-school death thrashing speed the band is known for with Amos Rifkin, laying down some great drum rolls.  King, is on fire, as his vocals show no sign of ageing, and they’re quite strong.  The band crafting one of their most catchy choruses in recent memory, this will be the perfect live opener for the band.  Excellent stop and start riffing and a middle section with kids’ voices and then right into a very melodic moment equipped with great guitar solos.  Truly an excellent opening song, destined to become a classic in the Deceased memory bank for years to come.

“The Grave Digger”, is the longest song at a whopping 8.40 and begins as a slow burn.  Excellent guitar riffs to open this slow creepy crawler song.  The main guitar riff is quite catchy and played expertly with Mike Smith and Shane Fuegel riffing like machines.  Les Snyder is still listed on bass, but I am unsure, if he played bass on this?  The song picks up the pace with an excellent shift in the tempo department and it’s a bit off-kilter at first with the melodious riffing happening.  It’s a jam session until King’s vocals come in over the fast part.  The guitar riff over this faster section is once again truly memorable with a nod to the gods of Heavy Metal past with homages similar to NWOBHM during this speedy passage.  I notice a bit of old school Maiden on these faster gallops and that make me grin from ear to ear.  The melding of Death/Thrash/Heavy Metal throughout this album is stunning.  The galloping speed slows down around the 6.15 mark, breaking into that opening brooding pace, which the song started with.  There are several well-crafted riffs across this song and it’s pleasing to this writer to see Deceased return to yet another catchy riff, on this song.  It makes the song and these moments increasingly memorable.

 

“Brooding Lament” is pure death thrashing madness from beginning to end and not including the interludes is the shortest song at 4.22.  I love how out of the starting gates this song is SPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDD!!!  There are some slower moments and a lot of jamming out with this song.  King’s vocals are quite aggressive on this song.

I am still absorbing this latest Deceased album – there is a lot going on.  Ghostly White is one of my top albums from the band and right out of the sleeve this album was played non stop and still is for me.  Children of the Morgue is taking me a bit longer and I’ve had the album for over a month.  This has a great organic production and the song titles and sounds go perfect with the unsettling album cover.  Keep looking at this cover as you will find new things drawn in with each glance.  That is how the music is, there are a lot of riffs and a lot to absorb.

This is another strong album from Deceased who have a full album discography of not one dud.  That is tough to do, but King and the rest of the band continue to Up The Tombstones!!! Time and time again.  Great album from Deceased!!

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