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MORBUS CHRON

Tech/Extreme Prog Metal • Sweden


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Morbus Chron biography
Based in Stolkholm, Sweden, MORBUS CHRON was founded in 2007 by Robert ANDERSSON (vocals/guitar), Edvin AFTONFALK (guitar) and Stefan JOHANSSON (drums). Influenced by their forefathers in the Swedish death metal scene, the band's early demos and releases captured a raw buzzsaw aggression combined with a tense atmosphere. Stefan left the band after recording an early demo with them and was replaced by Adam LINDMARK on drums, while Dag LANDIN joined on bass. After signing a contract with Pulverised Records due to the positive response of their ''Creepy Creeping Creeps'' EP, in August of 2011 the full length album ''Sleepers in the Rift'' was released. Produced by Nicke ANDERSSON (ex-ENTOMBED), the album was fast, relentless and a noteable homage to early gritty death metal.

The band signed to the higher profile Century Media label and released the EP ''A Saunter through the Shroud'' on July of 2012, showcasing a much more progressive style to their sound, incorperating aspects of progressive metal acts VOIVOD and ATHEIST to their style. February of 2014 saw the release of the full length album, ''Sweven'', which combines the death metal of their earlier fare with an abundance of haunting atmospheric passages and dreamy melodies that combine to form highly unusual but innovative music.

Biography by Prog Sothoth

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MORBUS CHRON discography


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MORBUS CHRON top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.88 | 7 ratings
Sleepers In The Rift
2011
4.22 | 25 ratings
Sweven
2014

MORBUS CHRON Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

MORBUS CHRON Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

MORBUS CHRON Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

MORBUS CHRON Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

0.00 | 0 ratings
Creepy Creeping Creeps
2010
3.78 | 4 ratings
A Saunter Through The Shroud
2012

MORBUS CHRON Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Sweven by MORBUS CHRON album cover Studio Album, 2014
4.22 | 25 ratings

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Sweven
Morbus Chron Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by UMUR
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars "Sweven" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Morbus Chron. The album was released through Century Media Records in February 2014. Morbus Chron was formed in 2007 and released their debut full-length studio album "Sleepers in the Rift" in 2011. The "A Saunter Through the Shroud" EP followed in 2012 and bridges the gap between the debut album and "Sweven".

While Morbus Chron were hardly a traditional old school death metal act on "Sleepers in the Rift (2011)" nor on "A Saunter Through the Shroud (2012)", I donīt think many listeners would have expected the stylistic development which has taken place on "Sweven". Granted...Morbus Chronīs old school death metal core sound is still the basis of most tracks on "Sweven", but the band have added a lot of progressive and quite adventurous compositional ideas to that core sound, which result in something relatively unique sounding. While the two bands ultimately sound pretty different, there are still many similarities to the stylistic development their fellow countrymen in Tribulation have been through.

So "Sweven" features a sound which is quite hard to describe accurately, but progressive death metal is a start. The music also features atmospheric post-rock build-ups as well as the occasional nod towards atmospheric black metal (most dominant in "Towards a Dark Sky"). The vocals are a shouting growling type of vocals. There is a lot of reverb effect on the vocals, which at times makes them sound a bit chaotic. Personally I enjoy the vocals most when they leave the reverb effect alone, but thatīs probably an aquired taste. To my ears the vocals are one of the few weak links on the album. Considering that the vocals were a great asset on "A Saunter Through the Shroud (2012)", I think Morbus Chron have made a wrong production choice here.

Thankfully the instrumental part of the music is really strong. Structurally adventurous, progressive, and atmospheric extreme metal, which at times enterīs the weird zone and threatens to bend your mind. Itīs not an avant garde release though, and weīre still treated to fairly accessible music. Itīs just the kind of album which requires many spins to sink in. Itīs not a given where a song will go and there are many surprising twists and turns throughout the album.

Featuring high level musicianship and a well sounding dark and atmospheric production, "Sweven" is a high quality release by Morbus Chron and definitely one of the more interesting and original death metal releases of itīs time. So if you think the idea of old school death metal done in a progressive fashion sounds like a treat, "Sweven" is highly recommendable. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

 A Saunter Through The Shroud by MORBUS CHRON album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 2012
3.78 | 4 ratings

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A Saunter Through The Shroud
Morbus Chron Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by UMUR
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars "A Saunter Through the Shroud" is an EP release by Swedish death metal act Morbus Chron. The EP was released through Century Media Records in July 2012. It bridges the gap between the bandīs debut full-length studio album "Sleepers in the Rift (2011)" and their sophomore full-length studio album "Sweven (2014)".

While the lineup hasnīt changed since the debut album, itīs pretty clear when listening to "A Saunter Through the Shroud", that the old school Scandinavian death metal sound featured on "Sleepers in the Rift (2011)" was not the fully developed sound of Morbus Chron (and as time would show, neither is the sound featured on "A Saunter Through the Shroud"). While the basic formula is much the same, it is still the darker and sligthly more twisted part of the Scandinavian death metal scene that is the main reference. Artists like early Cadaver, early Carbonized, and early Darkthrone. Thereīs a morbid doom/death touch of Autopsy there too, and compared to the debut album, a technical death metal element has also been added to the sound. Demilich could be mentioned in regards to the latter influence.

So the sound on "A Saunter Through the Shroud" is not your standard old school Scandinavian death metal sound, but rather a dark, filthy, and technical version of it. A band like the Norwegian Diskord could be mentioned here as a reference too. Morbus Chron are a well playing band and lead vocalist/guitarist Robert Andersson has a very convincing growling vocal delivery. The EP is well produced too and features a raw, dark, and organic sound production which suits the material perfectly. So the only issue here is that the EP is a bit short with its 3 tracks and 13:19 minutes long playing time. But Iīd much rather be left with the feeling that I want more, than the feeling that a release has outstayed its welcome. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

 Sleepers In The Rift by MORBUS CHRON album cover Studio Album, 2011
3.88 | 7 ratings

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Sleepers In The Rift
Morbus Chron Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by UMUR
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars "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, arenīt 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, itīs still a very interesting album as it is. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

 Sweven by MORBUS CHRON album cover Studio Album, 2014
4.22 | 25 ratings

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Sweven
Morbus Chron Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by CassandraLeo

5 stars Morbus Chron's debut, Sleepers in the Rift, was solid but fairly by-the-numbers old school death metal worship (think the likes of Autopsy). For those who enjoy such material, it's certainly a great listen, but it's not the sort of thing that would get a band a listing on Prog Archives.

On the other hand, Sweven, their second album, is a radical left-turn the likes of which few listeners had probably expected of them. While there's still plenty of death metal here, there are significant portions of the record that do not actually qualify as metal at all, and even the segments that do qualify as metal manage to maintain the same otherworldly, dreamy atmosphere as the more subdued bits. Several songs are also instrumental, and even in the vocal songs, the band stretches out instrumentally at length.

The song lengths are also misleading: several pieces segue seamlessly into one another (the first three songs are an excellent example of this). The result is that the album feels more like a single long composition with a few brief gaps than a collection of ten songs.

The songwriting and performances are superb throughout; the lyrics, though mostly indecipherable, are different enough from the standard blood and gore fare of death metal to be worth a read. The production is excellent, with the instrumental clarity high and the instruments being mastered with plenty of room to breathe. A note must also be made about the packaging, which is simply gorgeous, especially on the vinyl edition, which comes with a gorgeous twelve-page, 12"x12" booklet that contains several beautiful full-size paintings. In an era in which record packaging is dying as an art form, it's nice to see a band keeping it going. There really isn't a weak point on this album for progressive death metal fans, and it stands as one of the best releases of the genre in 2014. Strongly recommended.

 Sweven by MORBUS CHRON album cover Studio Album, 2014
4.22 | 25 ratings

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Sweven
Morbus Chron Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by LearsFool
Prog Reviewer

5 stars Slowly, quietly, but surely a guitar plays, over time rising in volume. Other instruments soon join, and when the drums join you know you're soon in for the crunch of metal. But for now they play as before. It takes awhile, but eventually this intro breaks into the expected progressive death metal, and demonic voices rise from the depths to welcome you. Things eventually calm back down, and then return to fury. This continues on to the fifteen minute mark. That would be an apt description of the first three, united tracks of Morbus Chron's second outing, "Berceuse", "Chains", and "Towards a Dark Sky", and also sums up the style of the rest of the record. To my ears this is strictly an improvement over the already excellent style of Edge of Sanity on their seminal "Crimson", likely part of the inspiration for these newly minted Swedes. A top album of 2014 for me, I recommend fans of prog death, especially those who find quiet interludes pleasing, check this wonderful record out.
Thanks to aapatsos for the artist addition.

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