Morbo/Bunker 66 - Into The Morbid Bunker (2016)

Here we have a split between two Italian acts. The first one is Morbo which can be described as death metal, with the other being Bunker 66 which is considered by Metal Archives to be a blackened thrash group.

The first two cuts come from Morbo, which offer up what I'd consider to be a very raw and classic type of death metal. Maybe it's safe to say that they thrash a little more than some death metal bands, but you wouldn't want to call them death/thrash either, as this is nowhere near the speed or potency of an act like The Crowned. Instead, we're getting something of a traditional production value appropriated to what I'd consider to be an almost progressive and quite weird style. “Cross Tormentor” actually changes from the slower approach in “Per Legem Mortuorum” to literally include the speed-thrash that I at first mentioned was absent from the performance. Oh, well. I guess it's a bit tough to classify these guys and two songs really don't seem to be enough to display all that they're capable of either. I guess we'll see in time as to how far these gentlemen are willing to go in order to combine their style of classic death metal with bits of oddity and speed/thrash.

The next two cuts come from Bunker 66, which seems more like a type of death/thrash mixed with punk than the blackened thrash tag that Metal Archives gave them. There isn't any black metal to be found here, as the band instead offer what I'd consider to be a thrash meets punk style of riffing with hardened vocals that feel a bit gravel along with some killer little solo sections. It's more or less the kind of thing that comes in hard and fast, with little time to really observe it. This definitely had the energy of old punk and possibly some Motorhead infusions as well. It's about the furthest thing from black metal that I think there can be and the band's tag needs to be changed to fit that. For a band who has been around for as long as these guys have, (which is about a good six or seven years) it seems like Bunker 66 have changed their sound a bit. Though it is possible that this was only done for the split.

In the end, both bands are pretty decent. I thought Morbo was a bit more interesting because of the odd progressive tinkering, but that's just me. It's a relatively solid split and perhaps you should give it a listen.

(4 Tracks, 11:00)

6/10