There are only a handful of times that a band comes along and revolutionizes a genre, or standardizes it such that scores of future bands continue to imitate their techniques decades after the band has gone into the void. However, even more seldom, does another band come along, that not only succeeds in capturing the ideology of their great predecessor but continues to push the barrier of excellence further. The original greats were Necrophagist, and the later successor, for those keen of eye, was Spawn of Possession.

The world moaned the untimely departure of Spawn of Possession from the technical death metal scene, especially after they had reached maniacal heights with their last record, 2012’s Incurso. For decades, there was no news about any new material from the lads, and they passed into memory, and then into shadow, much like Necrophagist. And the world moved on.

Until now.

Behold, the inception of Retromorphosis. Spawn of Possession, in all but name, with four of the original five members returning with new music, the tech-death world was frothing at the mouth. I was among them. Now we have their debut record, Psalmus Mortis.

In truth, Retromorphosis isn’t a continuation of the Spawn of Possession sound. Where SoP strived to push the very envelope of technical convoluted songwriting into new realms, Retromorphosis pivots into more traditional death metal areas. Where SoP leaned heavily into classical music infused into their death metal goodness, Retromorphosis draws influence from the Old School Death Metal (OSDM) resurgence. However, be not fooled, the musicianship is still as techy and top-shelf on Psalmus Mortis.

Quickly getting into the thick of things with “Vanished”, Retromorphosis overloads us with gritty jagged riffs dragged straight from the OSDM playbook. In contrast, “Aunt Christie’s Will” sprinkles in some of that SoP melodic goodness, but doesn’t dwell too long in trying to whisper sweet nothings to us, and lacerates us with more old-school death metal riffs over blast beats, double kicks, and thrashy skank beats. The first earworm and album favorite, “Never To Wake” brings in new elements to the songwriting, with eldritch horror-esque ominous keys backing doomier arrangements, Retromorphosis shows us that they aren’t afraid to tread new ground, and not languish in the shadow of past greatness. The track features several tempo changes, with different tropes from death metal, to tech-death and even some progressive elements, to keep the song fresh and exciting.

Psalus Mortis is chock full of great arrangements. While a lot of it will blend into a barbed wire maze of riffs, solos, blast beats, and growls, the band knows how to expertly throw in groovier sections, and play with start-stop tempos, to prevent the listener from being lulled into a white-noise stupor very quickly. To name a track after your band in your debut album is some metal supergroup behavior, but “Retromorphosis” is another standout track on the record. With more cavernous synths and razor-sharp death metal riffs, the track hammers and slices in equal measure. The nine-minute juggernaut “Machine” opens with cinematic elements, more classic-horror trope-laden church organ samples, before getting closest to the original SoP sound. The riffs reach hectic levels of push-forward pacing, before dropping us into the trenches with mammoth chugs. A helluva track!

After recent downfalls of other tech-death supergroups, crumbling under the weight of their egos, it is incredibly satisfying to watch a band get together, with most of their original members and put out a record of consistent bangers.

Those of us who worshipped at the Spawn of Possession altar, are deeply familiar with the returning members and their songwriting prowess. Mastermind songwriter and guitarist Jonas Bryssling takes his famous SoP chops and takes his strings away from the cosmos, dips them in the blood and slime of the death metal world, to give us tracks that cannot be described by any other vibe than Old School Technical Death Metal or OSTDM, if that was a thing. Tech-death demigod, who has his tendrils in every riff-laden band Christian Munzner bolsters Bryssling’s efforts by bringing more modern tech-death goodies to the songwriting table. Bassist Erlend Caspersen brings his thick-stringed barrage on the tracks. A more prominent bass in the mix would have given the songs a different flower. Still, I reckon that much of that headroom was taken up with the additional layers, overdubs, and most prevalently, the string arrangements. The only major departure of this new iteration is the inclusion of drummer KC Howard (of Odious Mortem fame). Howard replaces Spawn of Possession drummer Henrik Schönström. Vocalist (and ex-drummer of SoP), Dennis Rondum brings classic death metal growls and barks reminiscent of OSDM to Pslamus Mortis. With added reverb lending that eerie old-school tone to the vocal arrangements, Rondum provides another layer of grit to the miasma of the Retromorphosis regime.

Psalmus Mortis heralds a glorious return of tech-death giants thought lost to fans, in a fresh coat of gore that is Retromorphosis. Fans of Spawn of Possession will delight in this new iteration and will gleefully consume any new material released by these expert musicians. A record that will assuredly be pinned in many Album of the Year conversations. We eat well today my tech-death friends! We eat very well!