Retromorphosis: Psalmus Mortis

Retromorphosis debut album, Psalmus Mortis, was released on February 21.

Whilst the album is technically a debut, and Retromorphosis are technically a ‘new band’, realistically we're talking about a new Spawn of Possession album here. Indeed, before SoP disbanded they were working on an album to be titled Retromorphosis. Other than the Drummer, everyone in Retromorphosis is a previous member of SoP. Their drummer is no slouch though; KC Howard has a high-caliber pedigree in the genre, being a member of Odious Mortem & ex-Decrepit Birth. Stylistically the album that these guys have made a decade or so after their last album, still sounds very much like classic Spawn of Possession to my ears. Whatever the case the band has chosen to turnover a new page with a new name and a minor change to the lineup.

I realize that not every reader might know much about Spawn of Possession. The Swedish band’s last album was 2012’s Incurso, which for me has always been a top-tier album in terms of Technical/Progressive Death metal releases. ‘Tech-Death’ as a genre was arguably at its peak during the decade that Spawn of Possession were most active. In the time since that zenith period (2000’s �" 2010’s) ‘Tech-Death’ has been taken to slightly different places, but I always come back to classic albums like Incurso. This golden era of ‘Tech death’ sounds to my ears like the time and place when bands added more and more technicality to the established progressive death metal mix in an organic and natural way. In more recent times the technicality in death metal can seem more contrived, with bands seeking to add speed for the sake of speed, or wanting to win a competition for the shreddiest arrangements.

Psalmus Mortis absolutely rips in the same way that the classics do. It's heavy, proggy, hyper-technical and well-produced. All of the tropes that made Spawn of Possession so enjoyable make their return: jaw-dropping guitar work with a nice mix of shreddy passages, heavy riffs and percussive groves. Tasty, clangy-string, over-driven bass lines that leap around the fretboard but also lock into more straight-forward lines and hold down the low end. Killer gutturals, world-class drumming, whole band precision runs, and a smattering of eerie synths which give the songs a sci-fi / otherworldly feel. The mix of brutality, melody, groove and technicality is close to perfect for my taste.

It’s a well-worn cliché, but this album is all killer, no filler. It is top shelf from start to finish. I enjoy every track and there is a nostalgic element to the sound which I also enjoy.

It is very heartening to see the majority of such a well regarded, retired band, reformed and releasing new music 2025. Jonas Bryssling (Spawn of Possession), Dennis Röndum (Spawn of Possession), Christian Muenzner (Spawn of Possession, ex-Obscura and Necrophagist), Erlend Caspersen (Spawn of Possession, The Allseeing I, Abhorrent) & KC Howard (Odious Mortem & ex-Decrepit Birth). It’s a formidable lineup with an established chemistry, and Psalmus Mortis more than meets the lofty expectations that are par for the course when this sort of lineup reform.

This album is an easy recommendation for extreme metal fans and is going to be in the mix as a top 10 album for the year in 2025.

Tracklist:
1. Obscure Exordium
2. Vanished
3. Aunt Christie's Will
4. Never to Awake
5. The Tree
6. Retromorphosis
7. Machine
8. Exalted Splendour

Added: March 16th 2025
Reviewer: Chris Reid
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 165
Language: english

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