Review by Michael on July 30, 2021.

In Aphelion is the new band of Sebastian Ramstedt (Necrophobic, lead guitar, bass and vocals), which he started together with Johan Bergebäck (also Necrophobic, rhythm guitar) and Marco Prij (Cryptosis, drums). Before the first album will be released (probably in December), we have the opportunity to get a first impression about the musical direction through their first demo (simply titled Demo I). Who now believes that In Aphelion are a mere copy of Necrophobic, will quickly be taught to know better on this demo.

'Let The Beast Run Wild' is a very old-school black metal song that reminds me personally of Nifelheim, Aura Noir or Nocturnal Breed. The riffs are quite thrashy and Sebastian's vocals sound very evil. From time to time the preferences of the band leader for classic heavy metal shine out, so that the piece comes across very entertaining. 'Sorrow, Fire And Hate' starts dark and dragging, but quickly turns into a very melodic song. The riffs and melodies are very reminiscent of Bathory and the break in the middle of the song is world class! I would also like to mention the drumming here, what Marco Prij delivers is way more then all right too!

I can only recommend the demo, because the whole thing really makes you want more. I'm looking forward to the EP and the upcoming album!!!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Carl on April 20, 2025.

And here we go again. Get ready for another blast of gut-wrenching, gore-drenched grinding death, and before you may start thinking that you've heard this before, allow me to tell you that this is just awesome!

This album comes tearing out of the gates practically immediately, and right from the get-go, you'll get the point of what this is going to be all about. Combining the influences of bands like late 80s Napalm Death, S.O.B., early Brutal Truth, and especially a lot of Terrorizer, this is stuff that will just start pummeling the listener about the head without hesitation. The guitars roar with the intensity of a highly powered chainsaw while the drummer does his utmost best to imitate the sound of a jackhammer relentlessly battering a sewer cover, with a fuzzed-out bass guitar providing a solid, murky backbone to the whole. The songs are as expected, pretty short and as is customary simply brimming with maniac velocity and an idiotic amount of insane energy, fired at the listener with a hardcore punk-like fluidity, with only short slower sections sprinkled into the maelstrom on offer. In a track like 'Niebla Mucosa De Desbridamiento' we even get a crusty influence in the style of Extreme Noise Terror, adding yet another layer of stomping aggro to this belt sander of an album. The riffing is razor-sharp, the execution is spot on, and the aggression emanating off of it is almost tangible, all dressed in a production that can only be described as beastly powerful. As the combining factor, there are the dual roaring growls and shredding shrieks that are being delivered in the way Carcass has shown us on their earliest material, delivering yet another blow to the cranium, one of many you'll receive throughout this album's runtime. I'll tell you, this album had me going nuts right from the start, almost all the way to the end.

Now, I think I can hear you thinking: wait, what do you mean with that 'almost' there? Well, for the biggest part of this veritable grinding death tornado, the band keeps the velocity high, the intensity through the roof, and the aggression almost to a point of suffocation, but on the second-to-last track the band drops all of that. On 'Ulceramente Gurgitando La Unción Repugnante' Morgue Breath rams down on the brakes to deliver a slowly lurching doom-laden monolith of a track, and for me, they really shouldn't have. The idea was probably to give some respite in between the high-octane assault being belted out, but it feels kinda out of place for me. I wouldn't call this one bad in any way; that church organ in it is pretty cool, it's just such an abrupt change of pace, almost as if the band ran out of steam here, and I don't really care for it all that much.

Plaga Sin Rostro is a full-on assault of grinding death metal exactly the way I want to hear this: loud, energetic and oozing copious amounts of aggression. The slow burner at the end isn't really what I wanted on here, but that is only a minute remark, purely coming out of my personal tastes, because the rest of the material is on utterly insane levels of excellence. It's a style of music that Exhumed has long since forgotten how to make, so I'm beyond chuffed that Morgue Breath is here to take over this particular torch from them. Killer stuff!!

Rating: 9 out of 10