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MORRAH “Experiment in Blood”
www.metal storm.ee
Between old school Death Metal, Grind and even with some touches of "technical" music, Morrah is a new Death Metal band from Russia and their first album "Experiment In Blood" is a good surprise. So if you like real Death (we're not talking about Gothenburg music here), please have a look on this review. As I said in my introduction, Morrah plays a varied Death. This is not something melodic, this is brutal as hell, especially at the end of the album where songs flirt with Grind and Brutal Death Metal. I like the fact that even if the music of Morrah is aggressive, we still have technical effort on all the songs. It's not brutality to do brutality, it's not noise. For example, you'll be able to listen to a lot the bass, and let me tell you that Mikhail Karavanov knows how to play (and write) hyper technical lines of bass guitar. At the end, a song like "Insomnia" never lacks of rhythm (remember the bass stuff) and its complex structure in addition of a "stay in your head" riff is really enjoyable. But in my opinion the only little bad point of the album comes from the fact that the music starts to lack of intensity and starts to be a bit repetitive after the middle of the album. I mean that if the first songs are all but not boring, the last ones seem to be a bit more easy. Not so complex and more into the "grind" side which means that the riffs are a lot more basic. The ones who like this side of Death Metal will probably not be disappointed but all the other ones who prefer classic Death will find it boring with time I think. If you're into Death Metal, why don't you try Morrah's last album "Experiment In Blood"? After all, it's a good release of Death Metal and young bands that choose to play "real" Death should have all our support right? Plus even if everything isn't perfect here, we still have a lot of quality on this release so if you like Death, try this release, I don't think that you'll be disappointed.
MORRAH “Experiment in Blood”
www.metal-observer.com
My first contact with the Russian Heavy Metal scene was with the band GRENOUER. While that project was firmly rooted in Death Metal, a fair amount of Industrial elements were utilized in supplementing the existing sound. MORRAH, on the other hand, represent the same audacity and perseverance of their Motherland while sticking to an old-school sound firmly rooted in the likes of CANNIBAL CORPSE and MALEVOLENT CREATION. Riff emphasis is the name of the game and this project is certainly capable. Much of the praise offered must be accredited to the guitar duo of Ilya Kotelnikov and Alexander Aleksanichev. Their tone is thick and gritty with a very retro feel which properly takes advantage of the distorted chaos to inflict massive trauma to your skull as you repeatedly bang your head against the fucking stage. The mid-paced riffing avoids chugging at all costs and offers everything which the latest JUNGLE ROT album lacked; sophistication and lethality. Variety is offered through the infrequent groove-oriented passages which possess a very similar feel to early OBITUARY while maintaining that distinct MORRAH feel. The overt magnitude and quantity of riffs manage to make up for the lack of solos/lead-work and keep your attention constantly focused without having to throw you any surprises.
Does Mikhail Karavanov ring a bell? It very well should after listening to this album as you are battered for over a half hour with audible shredding bass which can be likened to the refined approach of Alex Webster (surprise, surprise). Mikhail takes full advantage of the breathing room to add depth and integrity to the release by supplementing the equally solid rhythm work of skins-man Dmitry Varlamov. Rounding out the package is vocalist Alexander Dovzhikov whose generic growl packs a bit of a punch and only suffers from the fact it is not nearly as memorable as the riffing. The one curve-ball thrown by this project is seen in “Untimely Demise” where we are hit with clean vocals which are outright bland. Far from atrocious, the vocal approach simply is lacking and detracts from stronger moments of the composition in a somewhat degenerative way. You’ll quickly forget any misgivings as “Inside My Mind” kicks into high gear from the start, featuring a completely explosive main riff which will immediately cause multiple brain contusions. Old-school Death Metal performed with passion is always a welcome addition to the Metal community. You won’t be floored and your erectile dysfunction will not be cured, but your head will bang and your time will not be wasted. That alone says a lot when one attempts to make comparisons to the deluge of mediocrity always threatening to engulf the scene.
“Close your eyes Enjoy the pain”
http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=10548
MORRAH “Experiment in Blood”
www.supremebrutality.net
Russian death metal is not something I get to hear everyday so I was quite excited when I found the debut Experiment in Blood from St. Petersburg based death metallers Morrah in my mailbox. The music doesn't leave much, if anything to the imagination, but Morrah is good at what they do so it doesn't pull down. The band appears inspired by Cannibal Corpse to a certain degree. The references are definitely there in "My Bleeding Heart" and "Butcher" as well as others, but saying Morrah sounds like a clone wouldn't be just. The music isn't quite as fast and brutal as the Americans. This is probably due to the fact that Morrah doesn't solely rely on the aesthetics of death metal. The band seems to draw on inspiration from both thrash metal and heavy metal too which is very apparent on the instrumental intro and "Global Justice", but the main weight is on death metal. The production is dry and clear, leaving much space for each instrument. The bass is upfront and very present in the soundscape. It works well, but a fatter and fuller guitar-sound would probably have made the music sound more compact and powerful. Most of the songs are good, but in particular "My Bleeding Heart" and "Inside My Mind" appeared valuable. Morrah may not have found their own sound yet, but it sounds like they are well on their way. It will be interesting to hear what the Russians can come up with next.
4/6
MORRAH “Experiment in Blood”
www.metal-invader.com
MORRAH were formed back in 2000 and after five years they recorded their first self financed album entitled "Experiment in Blood". The band comes from the cold lands of Russia and they deliver half hour of pure technical death metal. Even if their name doesn't sound very death metal - like, MORRAH knows how to pen a decent deaht metal tune. In these ten songs MORRAH offer some pretty sharp guitar work with very good ideas and same goes for the guitar solos, not only the riffing, it sticks to your mind. The rhythm section is very good and the drums are very powerful. All the songs are sort in their duration and thismakes the album more aggressive and more powerful. IT never tires you. In adittion the production is very good and MORRAH seem to be a profressional band, that takes their craft seriously. Last but not least, they have played several live shows as support act for bands like : Vader, Impaled Nazarene and Pungent Stench. The fans of death metal should check this band immediately.