Band:	Morbus Chron
Album:	Sweven
Style:	Death metal, Progressive metal
Release date:	February 24, 2014
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. Berceuse
02. Chains
03. Towards A Dark Sky
04. Aurora In The Offing
05. It Stretches In The Hollow
06. Ripening Life
07. The Perennial Link
08. Solace
09. Beyond Life's Sealed Abode
10. Terminus

Within the past couple of years, the typically rigid subgenre of death metal has seen a good few bands challenge some of its more cliché formulas and ideas, to the point of becoming quite noteworthy needles that separate from the rest of the haystack. Portal have done it, Tribulation have done it, and this year, Morbus Chron are looking to get in on the action, doing one hell of a job at it in the process.

Much like Tribulation with The Formulas Of Death last year, Morbus Chron's sophomore album is a lot more maturely composed than their more straightforward debut, and the fact that the ante has been upped is noticeable almost immediately. With Sweven, the band are a lot more comfortable with exploring more avenues of atmosphere, technicality, and overall forward-thinking songwriting. The more relaxed, darkly melodic passages on tracks like "Towards A Dark Sky," "It Stretches In The Hollow," and "The Perennial Link" provide quite a satisfying complement to the band's more aggressive personality, and they tend to be interspersed with more complex, progressive undercurrents as well. This can tend to be a pretty hit or miss technique within death metal, but thankfully Morbus Chron make it work, in a way that never feels forced or inauthentic, but simply like another aspect of their musical personality.

Having said that, these Swedes certainly haven't forgotten their roots, and fans of Sleepers In The Rift will be more than happy with Sweven's maintenance of some nasty death metal fury, despite all the new elements that have crept their way in. "Chains" and "Aurora In The Offing" especially contain some pretty banging moments, further built up by the vocals of Robert Andersson, continuing to deliver that classic, old school style we all know and love. Edvin Aftonfalk as well must be applauded for his impressive guitar leads, that are definitely technically complex, but always within relatively brief periods, leaving the listener impressed, yet not bored with too much widdly diddly shred nonsense.

What makes Sweven such a great album is the fact that Morbus Chron can stick to a core, pre-established sound while also trying out new things, and being damn good at it at that. There's neck-breaking death metal, but also a good deal of prog, mellow melodies, and fantastic manipulation of tempo as well. Though it can sometimes feel like the sense of balance makes it difficult to enjoy from one particular direction, the album's equalizing of elements makes it quite clear that Morbus Chron refuse to be crammed into the expectations of their style, and they're raising their bar pretty high for their music to come.

Begin your slaughter.