Eight years ago, the underground lost a unique leader when Spawn of Possession crawled into their hallowed crypt. Foul-mouthed disciples still utter the name SoP with reverence, but while others tried to crack the band’s forbidden cabinet, these accursed innovators were secretly festering in their grave, plotting to return and haunt the world of extreme metal once more.
Now, the undead masses can finally rejoice. Thanks to a healthy kick from their decrepit new drummer, Spawn of Possession has been reborn as Retromorphosis. With their debut album, this new band of freakish players emerge with the missing link in technical death metal’s evolutionary chain. The latest mutation off Psalmus Mortis is a living testament to their ungodly strength.
Listen to “Retromorphosis” on the Season of Mist YouTube channel.
Psalmus Mortis comes out February 21 on Season of Mist.
Pre-order & Pre-save
https://orcd.co/retromorphosispsalmusmortis
“Retromorphosis” upholds the heretical traditions hammered down by the band’s forefather. After all, Spawn of Possession also had a song named after them on their deviant debut. “If you’re going to have a song with the same name as your band, then it has to appear on your first album”, says Jonas Bryssling, who started Retromorphosis during the pandemic after his pick hand was once again bit by death metal’s radioactive songwriting bug.
Put under the microscope and the band’s new single does share SoP’s unreplicable DNA. Christian Muenzner zips through not one, not two, but three guitar solos, each one packed with more technically innovative twists than a triple helix. No matter which way their tales leave you tossing and turning in the dead of night, all of the songs on Psalmus Mortis spiral into madness, but on “Retromorphosis”, Dennis Röndum growls like a man freshly possessed by the devil on his massive shoulders. “I’m the one / chosen son / gifted and reborn“.
While marked by their beastly signature skills, Psalmus Mortis adds more raw edge to the mix. The album was produced by fellow Swede Magnus Sedenberg, who’s been the band’s preferred death dealer since Spawn of Possession’s first two demos. But Retromorphosis scrapes away all of the studio polish that’s become fashionable even in today’s underground. As shown by his latest bass playthrough, Erlend Casperson can groove along the same brain waves as the most high-minded shredders, but his tone on their new single reeks of the gutter.
“I prefer my death metal to sound ugly and mean”, Bryssling says with a satisfied grin.
More muscular face pounding isn’t Retromorphosis only hideous mutation. As Bryssling rips into chunky riffs with the unsavory appetite of an old-school cannibal, ex-Decrepit Birth drummer K.C. Howard beats you senseless with rabid blasts and pounding double bass. But while less techy, Psalmus Mortis does experiment with some unconventional instruments of torture. “All I hear is voice of God / it never leaves me“, Röndum declares in depraved glory, backed by sinister organ glows and a choir of angels who raise their voices as if condemned to the depths of hell.
“We had rules in Spawn of Possession”, Bryssling explains when asked what separates Retromorphosis from his earlier offspring. “Everything had to always be so intense. Retromorphosis is more free. Psalmus Mortis can be eerie, doomy or even quite simple”.
Can’t wait to hear the gloriously grotesque new album from Retromorphosis? Hear all of Psalmus Mortis during tomorrow’s Bandcamp Listening Party.
Retromorphosis Psalmus Mortis Bandcamp Listening Party
Thursday, February 6 @ 1 pm Eastern Time / 7 pm Central European Time.
RSVP
https://retromorphosisofficial.bandcamp.com/live/psalmus-mortis-listening-party
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