SLEEPERS IN THE RIFT

"Sleepers in the Rift" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Morbus Chron. The album was released through Pulverised Records in August 2011. Morbus Chron hails from Stockholm and were formed in 2007. They released the "Splendour of Disease" demo in 2010 and the "Creepy Creeping Creeps" EP later that same year. "Sleepers in the Rift" was recorded and mixed in 5 days in November 2010 at Gutterview Recorders and produced by Morbus Chron and Nicke Andersson (Entombed, The Hellacopters).

The choice of one of the forefarthers of Swedish death metal as co-producer and the choice to record and mix "Sleepers in the Rift" in 5 days, have payed off big time for Morbus Chron, who has ended up with a pretty great product. The basis of the music is old school Swedish death metal with an authentic, raw, and organic sounding production, which brings exactly the right atmosphere to the music. While that all sounds tried and true, Morbus Chron still manages to put their own spin on the sound though, and "Sleepers in the Rift" is therefore slightly more interesting than your average old school Swedish death metal release. To some extent Morbus Chron have more in common with the darker and slightly more twisted Norwegian death metal style of the early 90s, and artists like early Cadaver and early Darkthrone, than they have with the contemporary Swedish scene. I hear a nod or two toward Autopsy too.

So they have that ekstra something, which is required to stand out on the scene, and the fact that the music is well performed (the growling vocals are performed in a shouting reverb laden style, which suits the music well), and as mentioned above, well produced too, aren´t exactly issues either. All things considered "Sleepers in the Rift" reeks class, and although there is still space for improvement in the songwriting department when it comes to catchiness and memorability, it´s still a very interesting album as it is. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)