Italians Valgrind have been slogging death metal for quite a while now. Their 2012 album, Morning Will Come No More, recently re-released on tape by Nihilistic Holocaust, is quite a beastly release, drawing influence entirely from the US death metal scene - particularly premier acts such as Death, Incantation, and Morbid Angel. The old school flavor and production sets the stage for a solid hour of intense death metal in a classic and uncompromising tradition of brutality. The band adeptly structures songs to highlight outright technical prowess while adopting simplistic barbarity at key moments in tracks to give the the intellectual ear brief moments of respite and the emotional heart room to rampage and drool. After several listens, Valgrind prove themselves worthy of being listed among the best the genre has to offer, especially when compared to many of the often touted modern death metal elite.
After a short intro, the album begins proper with "Fifth Nightmare," highlighting the mixture of influences which will be found across the album. The production in many spots reminds me of the deep, low-end focus of Death's Human. Massimiliano Elia and Emanuele Ottani pair to form an enlightened guitar duo, particularly where lead work is considered. Rhythms are buoyed by Marcello Malagoli on drums and Elia once again handling bass. The four man unit with Daniele Lupidi enforcing with his powerful bellows hammer home the refined and decisive bludgeoning. With this natural throwback tone set from genesis, it's difficult to do anything but be enveloped in soothing extremity. As the album progresses, other influences and comparisons become more readily apparent depending on the tracks. "Dark Dressed Shepherd" is nostalgic for Incantation, "When Mortal Skin End To Be" immediately resurrected the more obscure Mortal Decay's Forensics at opening, and "Rebirth. Pt. 1" will remind listeners of Morbid Angel's seminal Altars of Madness.
If the album has a flaw, it's length - as is often the case for me. Squeaking by in just under an hour, it's a lot of material to digest, even as powerful and strong as each song is. A couple of weaker songs could have been dredged and deposited somewhere else, such as on an EP or refined further. A note to today's bands: Onward to Golgotha clocks forty-five minutes, Altars of Madness clocks in at forty-four, Dawn of Possession at forty-two, and Human sprints by at thirty-three. Great death metal albums should mug you; should release violence urgently; should come and go like a sharp blade through flesh. It's not that a band should be tied to any length restriction, but it takes an adept artist being candid with themselves to acknowledge when to reign in album length.
Nonetheless, Valgrind handle this lengthiness with appropriately placed short instrumentals throughout the release to give momentary cleansing of the ears. The first of these instrumentals, "Quest for Immortality" opens the B side of the tape. So aside from turning your tape - or allowing auto reverse to kick in - the track helps cue the listener back into the album and prepares them for "Rebirth Pt. 1" and "Rebirth Pt. 2." I felt a Testimony of the Ancients flavor which was odd considering the rest of the album is so US centric. The second of the instrumentals also appears on the B-side of the tape before the second to last song. It's akin to the common "we've got two more songs" warning I seem to hear every show I go to. At thirty-five seconds, it's fine where it is and makes sense though I think I would have preferred this second instrumental right before the final track because...
The album ends with masterpiece, "Only Human Beings Corrupt Their Will". Here, Valgrind leave any regrettable concern over experimental absences covered. The track is likely my favorite along with the two "Rebirth" tracks. Opening with memorable deep tremolo picking riffs before disappearing on and off into Morbid Angel territory, the song shifts to big cosmic chord moments with keys backing tapping guitar melodies and a blistering guitar solo section in a Nocturnus vein. With unique textures subliminally rumbling beneath slower repetitive chords, the song is a mixture of a number of stylistic tendencies of Valgrind while showing that there is no shortage of creative arrangement ideas available for the picking for this band.
I often wonder if exceptional albums such as this find their way to the right ears. It's easy to pass over phenomenal newer albums and a lot of old-school death metal fans seem to shy away from hearing worthwhile modern releases. It's not surprising with the amount of over-hyped music circulating along with the high saturated market that many simply do not give a modern band like Valgrind a chance. Morning Will Come No More deserves the comfort of an old school death metal fan's crusty car stereo. I also really found rewarding here were intangibles such as the memorable song titles and deep red monochromatic artwork. I wish there were some sort of lyrical accompaniment with the J-card however I am well aware of the difficulty of satisfying such an extreme layout. This all is minor; Morning Will Come No More is a major reward.
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