I was pleasantly surprised when I was first told about Morbus Sacer, as I had not previously heard anything about this project despite having until relatively recently lived in Brisbane. If anything though, this proves that I need to break out of my immediate comfort zone and pay more attention to newer projects that pop up right under my nose. Another thing I find curious is the title of the demo, as it doesn’t make sense considering that it is released in 2017 and not 2013 as the title would seem to imply.

I am familiar with the bands that the individual members have been involved with, Demonreich, Vilifier, and Lustration. As such, I was initially expecting Morbus Sacer to be somewhat similar to these bands and within the general direction of Black/Thrash metal. However, Morbus Sacer play a deliciously filthy style of Black/Death metal somewhere in between the bestial style of bands such as Demoncy and cavernous death metal bands such as Dead Congregation.

The music can feel very structured for black/death metal, and a far cry from the chaotic intensity associated with the more war metal end of the genre in bands such as Conqueror. I however feel that this is certainly a good thing as it allows the listener to better embrace each riff and builds a more solemn and contemplative atmosphere. Instead of breakneck intensity that can be as quickly forgotten as it happens, the listener concentrates on the entirety of each riff and allows it to more fully present itself. Very often the pitfall of many generic black/death metal bands is that they give very little thought to changes of tempo and instead blindly follow the same repetitive pace through the entire song, especially once past the first minute. A good counter example of this is the latter half of the second song “Obliteration”, where the band slows down in a manner that can almost be describe as torturous or doomy. I really like moments like these, as I find that they help to further emphasize the intensity of the faster moments. The drums do a very good job in supporting this varied pace. The changes in tempo are emphasized by a more varied measure of drumming incorporating frenetic bursts of blast beats and rolls. This provides a counterpoint to the chainsaw attack of the guitar riffs. In this sense, the drums and guitar work very well together to construct a very warlike yet catchy dimension to the music.

The demo isn’t exceptionally long, with four full songs stretching across twenty minutes. Each song is about the same length, at about 4-5 minutes. However I feel that the band has found the right formula for their music in releasing cassette tapes of this approximate length. I am reviewing this based on a digital stream through Bandcamp, but I can visualize how the distortion common to cassette playback might actually enhance the experience of this demo. Listening to this demo digitally as I am doing so now feels relatively unfulfilling and inadequate, and I really cannot imagine listening to this on a sterile sounding CD if I can help it. Thus far, 150 copies of this demo have been pressed on Aurora Australis records. There hasn’t been any mention of further plans for the band whether it be live performances or further recorded material, but it’s early days yet. I’m already eagerly awaiting more of the same.

Listen here.