In a galaxy far away, long before they became a cornerstone of death metal's dark tapestry, Morbid was just a ragtag group of Stockholm teenagers with a taste for the macabre and a hunger to push extreme metal's boundaries. Yes, indeed, in this article we will review the history of Morbid, and band who despite their perpetual underground status remains to this day one of death metal's most acclaimed acts.
The band's early demos, such as "December Moon", often have gathered a "cult following" (Wikipedia likes that word), but that is really just due to Dead's vocals... yes, Dead was in Morbid briefly, before departing for black metal pioneers and titans Mayhem - at the behest of Euronymous, no less.
After Dead's departure to join the notorious Norwegian black metal band Mayhem, Morbid faced an uncertain future, to say the least. But prospects rapidly improved.
Morbid's music has been defined as twisted, evil, violent, brutal, savage and most of all macabre. Not all of their albums sound the same, but all of them carry the same sinister and eerie aura. Let's talk about Morbid's entire discography, both pre-Dead and post-Dead era.
Morbid's Best Death Metal Hits
While Morbid is undoubtedly a Swedish death metal band, they can best be understood as a rebellion against the typical Swedeath sound - the "Slaughter of the Soul" / Arch Enemy type pseudo-mallcore that was in vogue in the Gothenburg scene at the time.
Let's cover the band Morbid in three parts. Represented by three distinct death metal albums.
I. Rotting Tomb Carnage (Brutal)
It is no surprise, then, that their debut full-length "Rotting Tomb Carnage" sounds much more... brutal, than anything bands like At the Gates or Dismember ever released. The Suffocation, Infester and dare I say Demilich influences are strong on this release.
II. Necrotic Fairytales (Melodic)
Sure, the band would later mellow out for a while, releasing the much more classical sounding "Necrotic Fairytales". Key words: for a while. Morbid playing melodic death metal was just a phase, and they would soon return to the disturbing brutality and macabre atmospheres of their debut.
Worth noting, this album contains a lot of black metal elements. And I do mean a lot. Like literally overwhelming. "Necrotic Fairytales" is the perfect example of blackened death metal done right - in a notoriously "easy to play, hard to master" genre.
III. Skewered Beyond (Deadly)
Last but not least, "Skewered Beyond". We already wrote extensively about this album here and also here. "Skewered Beyond" can be seen as one of Morbid's most disturbing and deadly works of occult arts.
This album is clearly brutal, but not in the typical Cannibal Corpse way of thinking about brutality. Instead of the "in your face" brutality, this album can be seen as slowly and disturbingly eroding at your sanity.
In this regard, it is much closer to Phantom and Infester than to the overhyped "slamming gore" subgenre of death metal. A colder, more calculated form of extremity...
All three albums are peak Morbid.
By the way, if you like this sort of "band history review" format, check out the previous A History of Vermin post that inspired this article. We will probably do more of these, are there are many death metal bands that were influential, but had a few underrated albums that fly under the radar. Case in point: everyone always talks about Morbid's "Necrotic Fairytales" and early demos, mostly because of the black metal connection, and few are even aware of stuff like "Rotting Tomb Carnage"... which in the long run is much more influential and important.
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