Review Summary: Death metal that f*cking matter(horn)s.
Ah yes, Switzerland, a country renowned for its chocolate, knives, unrivalled scenery, and as a spot for some of the 1% of the 1% to dump their incomprehensible fortunes. One may think of a whole host of other European countries before said nation when determining the best place to discover a quality death metal record. As a connoisseur of the aforementioned genre going on a decade now, I'll be more than happy to admit that it was during one of my deepest plunges through the bowels of the internet that I happened upon this golden nugget hidden amongst the hypothetical crevices of the online Alps. To my pleasant surprise upon plugging it in, Moribund have crafted one of the finest (and most under-appreciated) mid-90s death metal records in
Oracular Eyes.
Given what most others would consider excessive, repeated exposure to death metal albums, one begins to look for some rather nit-picky and annoyingly anal things when judging the quality of the materials. Such factors may include the level of unhinged desperation or guttural atrophy in the vocals or the necessity to avoid rampant (understatement of the year besides "COVID-19 kind of sucks") copy-catting in the guitar work, which naturally becomes more and more difficult as the progress through the underground moves above ground. With that said,
Oracular Eyes does an exemplary job at avoiding the many black holes that commonly pull others into the 'purgatory of archived sh*t'. For starters, the entire album is drenched in an absolutely thick, cavernous, fully-realized sound that one would certainly not expect of such an obscure release. Every instrument gets its chance to shine through in various moments, while never becoming horrendously overpowering or dense, along with retaining an organic quality. Deranged yowling with a blunt lower end from Pablo Kissner raises the Van Drunen, Tardy, and Sindre Solem fans from their unholy graves. The technical proficiency that the rhythm duo of Roger Welti on bass and Philipp Eichenberger on the kit possess is certainly enough to keep alert for, especially the latter's impressive prowess with the double bass pedal that contains a very satisfying 'rumble' to it thanks to the aforementioned production.
Now, with all of that said, special attention should be paid to the fretboard flash and dash of Kissner and his cohort, Luca Amarina. Somehow, these two manage to blend just about every single style of established death metal of the time into their lashings, while keeping a healthy level of originality. The frantic, yet wonderfully well written and melodic solos and spacey passages in "Resurrection Cry" or the leading "Conscius Sleep" evoke the
Human or
Individual Thought Patterns period of Chuck Schuldiner, while some yield to darkened tremolo picked leads not unfamiliar to those who call Scandinavia their home. Others still force the sucker-punch that is
Consuming Impulse, summon the technical chunkiness of
The Erosion of Sanity, or plug you right in the face with a good ole' dose of Floridian crunch and burn. Perhaps most importantly, it remains un-trite, one can listen to the entire record through without saying "hey, I heard that sh*t already", and that is a rare find in the post-golden age of old school death metal.
In reality, Moribund's
Oracular Eyes goes beyond the (admittedly excessive) name-dropping in the previous paragraph. These unknown Swiss lads have yielded an album that stands up with some of the very best the genre has to offer, both past and present. By all means, give this record a shot, you won't be disappointed, and you'll also be left wondering what in the f*ck could've been if these gents had released more material. As a certain other legendary user put it, "kckcckjkckcjcjc at the speed of death", and don't look back.
