Omnipresent musician Rogga Johansson continually releases a ton of material year by year in numerous outfits – Leper Colony one of but 47(!) currently active entities according the Metal Archives. Featuring ex-Morgoth vocalist Marc Grewe, this second album Those of the Morbid features a new drummer in Jon Rudin known best for his work in Monstrous and Dead Sun plus second guitarist Håkan Stuvemark of Wombbath. Putting knowledgeable death metal musicians together to deliver old school death metal from both European and American perspectives is the name of the game here – nine more cuts that should appease those ardent followers of the genre.
Necessary ingredients for proper death metal tracks to shine include visceral main hooks, equally addictive vocal melodies that embrace a mix of evil screams and bone-chilling growls, as well as a groovy rhythm section that can be energetic when necessary, yet maintain a solid backbone throughout. The delectable lead play from Håkan matches the riff flurry present in Rogga’s choices – often displaying more of an older Florida driven penchant than expected, especially when you hear the furious to doomier instrumental sequences where tasty arpeggios give “Masters Voice” early standout status. Straightforward screams next to ripping guitars push “Flesh to Rot to Ashes” to top of the class status, Jon’s drumming a key to the speedy to pit-pulling sequences cohesively bringing the hooks home. Marc continues to embrace his Chuck Schuldiner-like delivery in robust fashion, noteworthy from the verses through a simple but very effective chorus on the Death/Obituary-ish “Realm of Madness”. Latter half effort “Creature From the Deep” has interesting rhythmic groove stomp sequences before shuffling between battering mid-tempo riffs, Marc’s measured screams/growls punctuating the sonic landscape deep in the caverns while Rogga’s layered axe work crushes. “A Story in Red” closes the record in a doom-oriented death manner, although very melodic between Marc’s cleaner delivery and a few twin guitar lines that elevate the impact of this arrangement.
Much like the group’s self-titled debut album, Leper Colony will never claim to be original in their songwriting through Those of the Morbid. They instead put their affinities for the Florida/American death metal scene into their European skillsets and contexts, as a result delivering another deadly record that many old school maniacs prefer – and could get newcomers into the style as well.