Morbid Breath has been mining the caverns of ancient thrash metal, digging deep into the crevices of the 1980s in search of righteous riffs. Their excavation has yielded them the EP In the Hand of the Reaper, which Decibel is stoked to present to you in full. As part of this exhibition you’ll hear some crunchy and raw guitar work, primitive but exacting rhythms, and cavernous vocal growls. It recalls the vibe of early Sodom, Venom and Destruction, but comes at you with the sonic attack of Kill em’ All-era Metallica and Show No Mercy-era Slayer.
Here’s how the band describes their creative process for this EP:
“The driving concept for this EP was to create something that could revive that malicious, heavy, and raw 80’s thrash-metal sound that we all grew up listening to. Our goal was not to reinvent the wheel, but to combine all the elements that shaped our youth and passion for extreme metal and encapsulate that into this EP. The approach of recording the songs in a live environment helped us create the intensity and rawness that was needed. In regards to the theme, the starting point was the album artwork before we even began writing the EP. Usually, that’s not something that you would normally do but it helped us get into the diabolical vibe and morbid atmosphere that transpires throughout 21 minutes.”
Hey, sometimes all it takes is an image to set the mood. And the artwork is totally rad. Whatever board game this is for, I want to play it!
Check out the full stream below. In the Hand of the Reaper comes out this Friday via Redefining Darkness.
