Morbific | Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh | Memento Mori/Me Saco Un Ojo Records

 

Morbific is a festering trio from Kitee, Finland, formed in 2020 by Olli (guitars), Jusa (vocals/bass), and Onni (drums). From their earliest offering, the “Pestilent Hordes” demo, it was clear the group was intent on channeling the grotesque spirit of death metal's most rancid forebears. Inspired by acts like Autopsy, Rottrevore, Mortician, Grave, Undergang, and early Finnish cults like Funebre and Disgrace, Morbific emerged as modern standard-bearers for bloated, slime-encrusted death. Their 2021 debut “Ominous Seep Of Putridity,” and 2022's “Squirm Beyond The Mortal Realm” built a rep for unhinged songwriting wrapped in sewage-thick tones. Now, three years on from their origins, “Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh” arrives via Memento Mori (CD), Me Saco Un Ojo (vinyl), and Headsplit Records (tape), confirming their place in the deeper catacombs of death metal filth.

“Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh” finds Morbific expanding their stench-drenched sound without abandoning the primitive core that made their first two albums fan favorites. The production here is sharper but not sterile—still reeking of decay, just more clearly articulated. The bass tone alone is a swollen, fetid presence, pulsing beneath riffs that sound carved out of disease. Guitars grind, churn, and scrape across tracks with a diseased sense of momentum, dragging the listener through cryptic grooves and writhing structures.

The album’s pacing is intentional, balancing slow-motion cadaver-crawl passages with eruptions of blasting filth. It never becomes predictable or disjointed; instead, it wallows in its own decomposition, the band always aware of when to contract or expand their sonic rot. There’s a logic to their madness here that wasn't always as developed in earlier outings. That doesn’t mean the music is refined—it remains saturated in grotesque textures and freakish phrasing—but there’s a sharper instinct for structure.

Vocals retch and growl with a putrid clarity that doesn’t detract from their grotesque nature. Rather than sitting on top of the mix, they are embedded in it, adding to the swampy, suffocating feel. There’s no sense of forced extremity here—Morbific operates from a place of genuine revulsion. Even as tempos vary from lurching to frenzied, there’s always a rotten cohesion behind it.

The album’s closing stretch—from the massive “From Inanimate Dormancy” through the title track “Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh (A Travesty Of Human Anatomy)” and final crawl “Slithering Decay”—feels like a ceremonial procession through cadaverous realms, finishing the experience in a state of collapse rather than climax. It’s a smart sequencing choice, one that seals the album in its own dank atmosphere.

Rather than reinvent their approach, Morbific refine it here. “Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh” is vile, ugly death metal done by those who understand its internal logic. This isn’t a band trying to ride a wave; they’re festering in the corner, growing stranger and stronger with each discharge.

Score: 7.0