Artist: Morbosatan
Country: Peru
Label: Ablaze Productions / Fallen Temple / Goat Eyaculation Records / Iconoclasm Conquest / Southern Soundclash Records
Formats: Cassette Tape / CD
Year: 2026
‘Morbo, Coca, Satán’, Morbosatan’s third full-length album, was originally released about a year ago, but since I haven’t written a review of it yet, I’m doing so now to coincide with the new wave of releases on both cassette tape (Iconoclasm Conquest) and CD (Fallen Temple and Southern Soundclash Records). This brings the total number of labels now involved in the publishing of this album to five, but there is still no vinyl release in sight. Fans of that format will therefore have to wait a little longer.
For loyal fans of underground metal in general, and South American extreme metal in particular, Morbosatan will be no stranger. Since their formation in 2013, the band has been making their presence felt on a regular basis and has already built up a quite impressive discography. Over the years, the line-up has also featured quite a few well-known musicians from the Peruvian underground scene. At a mere glance, we immediately recognize (former) members of bands such as Goat Semen, Anal Vomit, Bestial Rites, Hadez, Black Angel, Vlad, and Hell Torment. So by now, it’s safe to say that Morbosatan is a group of real scene veterans.
It is, in itself, quite remarkable that all that accumulated experience in the underground scene doesn’t necessarily translate directly into an album that blows you out of your seat. Maybe it’s not so much the music itself, which is actually pretty good, but rather the somewhat flat production that keeps it from ever really kicking into high gear. The guitars sound a bit subdued, while the drums are very prominent but come across as rather shallow. It’s a real shame, because I feel like there was so much more potential here. Given that the vinyl version is currently missing, this might be fixed with some additional mastering. But really, a full remix would be more appropriate, because the material definitely deserves it.
On the musical side of things, ‘Morbo, Coca, Satán’ is a rather traditional sounding and leans heavily on the classic South American style of Extreme Metal that blends Black Metal, Death Metal and Thrash Metal in virtually equal parts. Its brisk pace, which is even more palpable because of the loud drums, gives it a slightly more thrashy vibe than some of the band’s previous material, but the differences are only be found in the margins. It’s still largely all about wild outbursts, fierce riffs, screeching leads, and roaring vocals. Finesse and other subtleties are clearly not this band’s forte.
This kind of music thrives more on raw emotion than on pure musical craftsmanship, and Morbosatan is no exception. That makes it all the more unfortunate that the atmosphere doesn’t quite come across as well as it could.
