Morbid is one interesting death metal band, and one whose history is tied closely with the evolution of the overall death metal and black metal scenes. I say black metal as well, because as you may know, Morbid was for a long time known as "that one band that released a few demos and sent Dead to Mayhem".
Of course, opinions have changed since then. The band Morbid has reformed on January 7th 2023, and since then they have released a series of death metal masterpieces that rival even those of Morbid Angel, Incantation and Infester themselves: Rotting Tomb Carnage, Necrotic Fairytales, Skewered Beyond.
Morbid was originally founded as "Scapegoat" in 1985 by Slator (Mats Gonzales) on vocals and bass, Gehenna (John Lennart Valentin Hagström) on guitars and Drutten (Lars-Göran Petrov) on drums.
By 1986, the band was tired of the grindcore/hardcore punk style they had played until then, and, inspired by the like of Morbid Angel, decided to move on to the greener pastures of death metal. It was also at this point they recruited Dead (Per Ohlin) on vocals, as his somber style was more suitable for death metal vocals than Slator's dirty and angry grindcore barks.
Mats Gonzales of Morbid Unloads Against Death Metal Trends
In a recent interview with the great Morsay Magazine, bassist and former vocalist Mats "Slator" Gonzales, who was with the band since its inception in 1985, shares his thoughts on the evolution of the death metal scene and where he thinks it is eventually headed.
But first, he is of course asked about Morbid's unexpected return in early 2023.
Mats Gonzales: I was supposed to play bass [on Rotting Tomb Carnage], but because I had issues with the law I couldn't be in Stockholm during the recording. So the band brought in a replacement [Justin Gallows aka Mordicor] from CADAVER. But I wrote all the bass lines on that album, and even some of the riffs too!
A long - and hilarious - rant about the sorry state of modern death metal follows. It seems Morbid, much like the early Norwegian black metal bands, originally rebelled against the "trendiness" of the scene... but death metal only got worse since then, perhaps prompting Morbid to anticipated their return?
Q: I take it you view the death metal genre as headed in the wrong direction. But throughout the 80's and even in the early 90's, it was a force to be reckoned with. What has caused that shift, in your opinion?Mats Gonzales: Death Metal is in the process of being assimilated by more mainstream radio rock. Stuff like IN FLAMES, OPETH, AMORPHIS, NECROPHOBIC, DEICIDE, VADER, MESHUGGAH. If this is you, you need to take the d[*]ldo at out whichever orifice you have jammed it in and start listening to real music.
Q: Do you think this is musical only, or is it a manifestation of some deeper existential crisis within the extreme metal underground?
Mats Gonzales: The lyrics of AT THE GATES are best read through the voice of one being forcefully penetrated by their priest. "No Father Jesus, stop drilling me! You're hurting my [****]hole!". It's a very passive way to view religion, and Man's relationship with the world. We reject it entirely.
Q: Are you not Satanists?
Mats Gonzales: No! We believe in the anti-Cosmic forces of the Horned Devil! Leave the Church of Satan and their ideology to the timid and the weak.
This mirrors the comments made by Euronymous himself, and every other black metal artist, about the Church of Satan and other forms of "washed up" faux-edgy Satanism. Speaking of Euronymous and black metal, Morbid's bassist and frontman also had this to say.
Morbid: "Euronymous Was Right About Many Things..."
First asked about Dead's suicide in 1991, the Morbid bassist Mats Gonzales is pretty open about what he thinks of the entire situation.
(about Dead's suicide in 1991)Mats Gonzales: It's probably better that he isn't alive to see what a [****]show [the death metal genre] has become. If he would get mad at band for wearing shorts and sandals, what would he think of seeing blue-haired transvestites twerking on stage?
These comments are likely directed towards the metro mallcore act Arch Enemy, although they could just as easily apply to other trendies such as Behemoth, Watain, Antekhrist and Between the Buried and Me.
When asked about Euronymous, the "godfather of black metal" according to many, Slator's response is even more contemplative and mystique.
(about Euronymous)Mats Gonzales: Not many people know but I was in constant contact with Euronymous in the 1990s. Up until his final days almost. It was I who introduced him to our vocalist [Dead] when he needed someone for MAYHEM. We weren't friends and we weren't particularly close either. I laughed when he got killed. Many people thought he was pretentious. But in retrospect, he was right about many things. When he started writing: No mosh, no fun, no core, no trends... that's when you all said 'he lost his mind' and all. But looks like he was right to be selective in the end, wasn't he? You let in all the core people and now Death Metal looks like a [***] parade and sounds like [****]less MÖTLEY CRÜE.
There are many people who thought Euronymous was pretentious, and some even called him a poser - just read some of the stuff written by his ex-bandmates in "Real Satanic Black Metal" - but few can deny he had vision, something that brought the black metal scene together.
This article however, is more about the band Morbid, and less about Euronymous or the black metal scene (which we have already covered elsewhere). If you are interested in what Gonzales and other Morbid members, such as Gehenna, Grim, Necrobird and Samalek, have to say about death metal and their return to the main stage, I suggest your read the entire interview. It's well worth your time. (One thing he doesn't mention much is the reunion of Euronymous' nephew Heinrich "Grim" Aarseth with Dead's younger brother Daniel "Necrobird" Ohlin, but whatever).
Or you could also check out our review of Morbid's Skewered Beyond which is genuinely one of the best death metal albums of the decade.
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