Its been nearly a decade since death metal veterans Morta Skuld, or as I like to call them, Obituary of the north, reformed. They’ve since played countless shows and inked a deal with Peaceville Records, leading to the release of their comeback album, Wounds Deeper than Time (2017). While it wasn’t the strongest comeback in death metal history, it was a step in the right direction. Morta Skuld proved there was still plenty of gas in the tank. It was just a matter of cohesively putting all the parts together. Enter Suffer for Nothing.
Their sixth album, Suffer for Nothing is more or less a continuation of Wounds, but with a much sharper focus. The riffs and songwriting are more intense than ever. Some of the songs have a brutal feel to them in the vein of Suffocation and Cryptopsy. I usually despise this style, but when done correctly, the results can be lethal. The opening one-two punch of “Extreme Tolerance” and “Abyss of the Mind” have just enough slam in them to batter you before you can think of cringing.
When Morta Skuld aren’t bringing the brutality with these slamming slow sections, they thrash it up the old school way. “Divide the Soulless”, “Suffer for Nothing”, and the short but savage “Godlike Shell” are bound to get the blood pumping. If they don’t, perhaps the bloodthirsty blastbeats of “Facing Mortality” will do the trick. Morta Skuld largely stays true to the mid tempo death metal they’ve done so well from day one. But every now and then, they’ll surprise us with a neck snapper such as this.
Once praised as the spitting image of Obituary, Morta Skuld have since grown to embrace their own identity. If Wounds was the first date between brutal death metal’s heaviness and thrash metal’s intensity, Suffer for Nothing is the wedding and honeymoon. And you better believe I’m chowing down on the metaphorical wedding cake!
7 out of 10
Label: Peaceville Records
Genre: Death Metal
For fans of: Suffocation, Cryptopsy, Obituary