Blood Oracle

Second album for Morgengrau, who surprised me with their quality debut Extrinsic Pathway back in 2013. This is a Texas band that is currently led by ex-Ignitor vocalist Erika Swinnich, who now goes by Erika Morgengrau, so we all know she is into this. Put away any feelings you might have about a melodic singer fronting a Death Metal band, because she fucking kills in this.

This is exactly what I expected from Morgengrau. Riffy, heavy Death Metal that takes a lot more from Euro schools than from any hyperfast US-death tradition. The band remains refreshingly riff-oriented without being melodic or soft, and Erika's venomous delivery once again recalls greats like Martin Van Drunen—in fact Asphyx is a pretty good touchstone for what this band is about.

If there's a failing to this album, it's that it is good, rather than great. The production is a bit mushy, and I would have liked it punched up a bit, a little sharper. The songs all sound good individually, but they also sound a lot alike, so it's hard to tell when one ends and another begins. If you liked their debut then you will like this, because it is almost exactly like it. I would like it if Morgengrau pushed their songwriting more and made a real monster of an album, and I think they definitely have the potential to do that.