Review by Michael on May 10, 2025.

I remember that Marc Grewe told me in an interview that Leper Colony was planned as a real band and not as some sort of project and that the guys would like to do some more albums. So he kept his word and here we go with the second album Those Of The Morbid by Leper Colony.

What is new is the label – Marc and Rogga changed from Transcending Obscurity to the German label Testimony Records which has become a really good underground label when it comes to death metal during the last couple of years. Another difference to the last album is the line-up. They joined forces with Håkan Stuvemark (Wombbath) and Jon Rudin (Just Before Dawn) so that we do have a quartet now.

What has not changed is the music the guys are performing. I mean, if you are into death metal, you probably know what kind of music Marc Grewe and Rogga Johansson are well-known for. If not, let me just name some bands where they are or were active: Morgoth, Asinhell, Revolting, Eye Of Purgatory, Ribspreader. Only to mention a few of the countless bands they were involved in.

Although, this is not absolutely true. A little bit has changed though. Especially the thrash metal parts have increased in the songs (good examples for that are the opener "Face The Faceless" or the steamroller song "Flesh To Rot To Ashes" that has some super catchy death n'roll parts) and the tribute to Death-parts were reduced for that, at least in the first four songs.

Of course Marc still sounds like Marc, nothing has changed in his high-pitched, manic vocals and I would say that compared to the self-titled predecessor he sounds even more aggressive and sometimes even as young as on the old Morgoth records.

After the fourth song the listener is able to find some more classic death metal vibes again. "Realm Of Madness" is some pure Death / Bolt Thrower worship. Every riff reeks of the early 90s and sounds super retro. "Those Of The Morbid Inclination" starts pretty creeping with some stinking, dirty Black Sabbath vibe like Autopsy could have done, too. But soon that song increases the tempo and surprises with some cool groovy parts, too so that we don't have any slow ones on "Those Of The Morbid".

With "Apocalypse Whore" we get a cool Slayer-riff as introduction and also the rest is kept quite similar to them. Again, Marc can accentuate that song with his sick vocals very well so that the whole thing doesn't sound like a Slayer copy-cat.

The most interesting song however is "Creature From The Deep" with a great galloping start and a Jew's harp that is used. I guess not too many death metal bands have done this before – really unusual but it sounds really cool.

Oh, I said that there aren't any slow songs on the album, didn't I? Actually that was a lie! "A Story In Red" is almost a semi-ballad where Marc really tries to sing. It is an atmospheric song but to be honest, it appears like a foreign matter somehow. But probably some guys will like it.

Those Of The Morbid has turned out to be a solid death / thrash metal album with a good production but without too big surprises or weak songs (apart from the aforementioned one maybe). Every death metal maniac can buy this album without any sorrows but if you want to listen to some more innovative stuff you should keep your hands off that one.

Rating: 8 out of 10