Review MORBID SAINT ‘Swallowed by Hell’

If a band, with a founding date in 1984, releases a new album, one can think about a veteran powerhouse in metal. Morbid Saint, hailing from Wisconsin, is such a band. It was four decades ago that five guys came to together with the common willpower to unleash metal music to the world. It was a fruitful endeavor since ‘Spectrum of Death’, the band’s debut, hit the shelves in 1990.

The fact that the strong wave of metal receded in the 90s also impacted Morbid Saint, resulting in a split-up in 1994. But the metal heart still beat but it took a while before the vigor returned. The band reunited in 2010 and another five years later, the sophomore record ‘Destruction System’ marked the final return of Morbid Saint.

Metalheads who thought that the following record will be launched much faster was certainly disappointed. It took Morbid Saint another nine years to finalize the recordings on their third album and finally, 40 years after their foundation, the band reveals ‘Swallowed by Hell’.

The result though shows that the guys used the time very well since what is offered by the newest release is strong and powerful. Rooted in thrash metal, the band releases an album that doesn’t come with a real downer.

Fast and furious, that is the start, represented by the great ‘Rise form the Ashes’ and one is tempted to say that the title could reflect the band’s return in good fashion. Finally, there is an outlet again for all the metallic energy which also fuels the following title track.

‘Swallowed by Hell’ brings all the ingredients to the plate, fans of trash metal love. The short and crisp ‘Burn Pit’ with the shouts in the chorus, but also the heavily pounding ‘Bleed Them Dry’ are great thrash metal anthems. The latter is also kept in a more moderate pace with cleverly used breaks, creating an extra impact.

The story of Morbid Saint is special and fans who dig already the first two releases will have the right level of neck muscles needed for some intense headbanging to these ten tunes.