Review by Felix on September 18, 2024.

“We are all scum”. This statement is emblazoned on the back of the booklet, but let’s face the truth: we, to whom God has given an exquisite taste in music, should not leave Chemicide’s fourth full-length to the scum. Of course, it is a pity that the artwork does not stand in the tradition of their last two albums with their stylish, very awesome covers – but naturally, this is nothing that makes “Common Sense” a bad album. That should be clear to anyone with, well, common sense.

Chemicide’s previous works have already been solid and good. Now they have taken the next step, consequently and impressively. Without leaving their ancestral territory, they just perform better songs than before. The individual pieces are characterized by a mixture of maturity and wildness, in which the two components benefit from each other. Perhaps a look at the center of the album will explain what I mean. On the one hand, “Barred Existence” drones in slow motion. Sharply rasping guitars and a voice that seems to originate from Orwell’s “1984” paint a dystopian picture. The guitar riffs and lines are brilliant, the vibes of the song are cruel as hell and everything works. But what’s worse, a true dictatorship or a “False Democracy”? This is, on the other hand, the neighbor of “Barred Existence” and its mind-boggling high speed, which is only interrupted during the middle section, gives the track additional depth with its bulky, agitating riffs. Both songs cannot be confused, but both profit from the newly gained professionalism and the unbroken will to destroy everything.

Just to avoid any kind of misunderstanding, the aforementioned tracks are not the outstanding highlights of the album. The positive fact is that all tracks hit the mark. They are not perfect, but very good, the pretty monumental, partly heavily stomping “Lunar Eternity” as well as “Color Blind” with its disturbing, ominous guitar tones – and I could mention any other title here as well. Sometimes “Common Sense” sounds like an album from Sepultura, not like a real one but like the one they forgot to record between “Schizophrenia” and “Beneath the Remains” – less f**ked up than the first one, but slightly more vehement than the latter. Finally, as far as I can see, there is no commercial masterplan behind Chemicide and this is something one can only appreciate.

Although the guys do not hail from a real thrash metal hotspot, the production does not suffer from any exotic or ill-defined details. It scores instead with clarity, directness, and a murderous basic guitar tone. Even the bass guitar comes into its own. Furthermore, the origin of the quartet also does not matter concerning their style. They know the idols, pioneers, and legends of the genre very well. The riff in the middle of “Strike As One” was apparently spawned from the quasi-title track of a not entirely unknown record in thrash circles called “Reign in Blood”. Does anyone have a problem with this? I don’t.

Finally, the band pays tribute to Poison Idea with a cover song that is not mentioned in the song list on the back. “It’s an Action” does not have a lot in common with their own pieces, but punk and thrash are connected by their affinity for high-energy outbursts and therefore I have nothing to grumble about; instead I like this spontaneous explosion pretty much. It marks a cool gimmick at the end of a truly strong album, definitely the best of the guys so far; recommended for you, your friends, and even for all the scum out there.

Rating: 8.1 out of 10

Review by Chris Pratl on September 8, 2022.

Morgue Supplier isn't your average death metal band. Not at all.

In a veritable sea of what can churn out otherwise pedestrian or mundane metal music that is one-dimensional at times, for whatever reason or ability known only to the band, MS just defies convention and takes you on...a journey. The latest release, Inevitability, sets the course for putrid death metal with a touch of style that taps into all areas, foreign and domestic.

You can hear the myriad of influences in these tracks; dare I say there are some groove-oriented passages within tracks like 'Closing In'? The bass in this track is especially wicked, building an organic sense of definition and style that drives the track home hard, saying nothing for the purely pained and wailing vocal that is a perfect fit for the music. The amazing component to this album (and the band, really) is that the style is most assuredly death metal, but each tracks seems to find an expansive element within the limits of the genre and amplify them accordingly. It's been my longtime assertion that you don't get a band like MS too often, and when you do, you revel in it, experience it – much like one would any piece of art that appears confusing to those outside the ring.

There is a definitive style to Morgue Supplier, and if you understand and explore the 'fringe' elements of our chosen music, you'll enjoy them all the more. 'Departure (Interlude)', as an example, shows a structured darkness that you can't help being sucked into, much like a black chasm entices and suffocates its willing prey. Without delving too much into written theatrics here, a track like this breaks up the flow of the album, and it's all the better for it. It's like a short glimpse into reason, however distorted it may be, only to be slapped back to this horrid reality of 'My Path To Hell', which, again, balances the beam between battering death and a psychedelic slant that has guitars bending and swaying at will to some force above and beyond our ears. What might otherwise appear out of place or unnecessary is made potent and undeniably important. There isn't a wasted note anywhere on this album; some people will get it and be transfixed and others just might not be ready for something so swelling. Christ, the ending title track alone, a haunting instrumental that leaves you visualizing some epic jaunt through a sci-fi death chamber, is enough to tie in the full entity that is this record. Simply amazing on many levels.

I can go on and gush about an album I find to be all-encompassing and vital to the genre, but I will stop short of such inanities and just implore you to check these guys out if you aren't familiar with them. The back catalog is just as potent, believe me, but this is one of those examples of a band getting stronger and more fluid as it goes along. The vocals are a harsh slap to the face, offering nothing but violent dirges bellowed out in rancorous tones. Musically? The band is as tight, well-rounded, and true to the feel as one could hope. There's no pretenses here, no filler, no mono-syllabic rubbish for the sake of space – every track on Inevitability suppresses the mind, invades the psyche, and demolishes the will – follow this music as its intended and the journey will take you places that will haunt and delight even the skeptical denizens among us.

Top-notch death metal – Chicago style! This is what makes our city prideful.

Rating: 10 out of 10