Deform/Mortuous Lamenting Reflections split review

A few words on Deform, a defunct death metal band most people have never heard of, but whose posthumous contributions still reverberate. 

The death metal dynamic duo of Mike Churry, left, and the late Tim Ninerell.

In 2015 I went out on a whim to see my friends in Bearstorm play Philadelphia, and it became "A Dangerous Meeting" that hugely affected my life. I arrived early to catch one of the opening bands, Deform. 

Holy hell. The first thing I noticed about Deform was their drummer. I knew this kid was something special even before he took the stage, because he wore a baseball hat with a Morpheus Descends patch sewn on. Morpheus Descends is one of those cult death metal bands whose very existence is usually only known by the truest of bangers. Behind the kit, he played effortless double bass and blast beats like the second coming of Dave Lombardo and Pete Sandoval, but with his own chaotic flair. Their guitarist shredded on an old Ibanez RG model, rocking aviator shades, and a black button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He had the same skinny demeanor and flowing black hair as Trey Azagthoth from Morbid Angel, and definitely possessed an equally bombastic guitar playing style. So many chunky, fast riffs.

I yelled "more riffs" between songs because I was so impressed by their onslaught. And riffs, they delivered.

I had no idea at the time, but this would be Deform's final show, which makes this chance encounter even more special and bittersweet. Let this be a lesson on why people should go to shows and watch opening bands they've never heard of. You never know who you will meet, or when your mind will be absolutely blown.

So, who were Deform?

Deform was a death metal band formed in New Jersey by Tim Ninerell on guitars, vocals, and bass, and Michael Lee Churry on drums, starting in 2007. Deform produced a short but ferocious discography. Their 2012 Nefarious Impulses cassette is three songs of bludgeoning, riff-driven death metal, with thunderous drums and killer headbanging grooves. 

In many ways, Deform predated today's influx of "old school death metal" bands. But unlike the current crop of death metal dealers, who tend to all sound like serviceable replications of bands like Obituary, Dismember, Bolt Thrower and Entombed, Deform played an off kilter and bizarre style. They drew influence from obscure bands hailing from the Midwestern states and Finland, like Vio-Gression, Accidental Suicide, Demilich and Depravity.

Tragically, Tim Ninerell's life ended in 2016, when he committed suicide at age 27. But his musical legacy of brutality lives on, thanks to this new Lamenting Reflections split from Carbonized Records, and the thoughtful efforts to honor his memory from his former band mates, Mike Churry and Colin Tarvin of Mortuous (who also played guitar in Deform over the years). 

Lamenting Reflections is short, at only two songs from each band, plus an instrumental introduction, but it's thoroughly heavy, and a fitting tribute to a dude who lived and died committed to death metal. 

Deform opens this split with the instrumental "Introduction," a campy rousing number consisting of clean guitar tones over the echoes of a crying infant. It screams "low budget horror movie soundtrack," and although it's inclusion might be a tad unnecessary, nothing is wasted on their subsequent track "Behind the Mirror." This song blasts off with an eerie array of inverted chords, giving the effect of a dissonant spiral into darkness, as the drums stay busy with a funky, Vinnie Paul-esque breakdown. The guitars and drum trade off with a stop and start series of syncopated riffs, and Ninerell's vocals are guttural and tortured, like a creature groaning in the bottom of a well. Churry's drumming is in top form, as he unleashes blast beats and double bass rolls atop of double bass rolls. The drums sound like the ground is rumbling and heaving with a hideous earthquake. This singular entry captures the essence of Deform - twisted death metal that goes all over the place. It's fast, it's slow, it's energetic, it's sullen and doomy, all in about four minutes.

The Mortuous portion, "Funerealm," is a solid B-side from these California death mongers. The disparity in production between the Deform and Mortuous songs are apparent, with the latter sounding much more massive and polished than the former, especially in regards to the guitar tone. This song has a subterranean atmosphere, with indecipherable vocal growls lending a primitive aura to the bleak landscape of distortion.

The whole record is hardly ten minutes, but I feel like Tim would raise his devil horns in approval. 

Somewhere in the future, Deform might strike back with another dose of death from beyond the grave. Mike Churry has stated that he's learned the guitar parts for their entire full length album that was never recorded, What Lives In Shadows? Until then, Lamenting Reflections memorializes a fallen soldier of heavy metal in Tim Ninerell, and the extreme music world is all the better for it.

Full disclosure time. I became friends with Mike Churry after our fateful encounter at Deform's final concert in 2015, and years later, convinced him to play drums in the Necrosexual band.  None of this would have been possible if it hadn't been for Deform, and for Tim's obsession with creating the gnarliest brand of death metal music on earth. Riff in power, Tim. 

Order Lamenting Reflections via Carbonized Records.