 (Relapse Records)
Review: The Mortician new full-length album is finally out!!! I was really happy when I got it, but it didn't really hook me up at the first listening. Maybe I played it too loud to appreciate it, it was so loud I couldn't understand anything... I was maybe a little tired too... Anyway I listened to it a few more times now and I have a clearer opinion about this brand new piece of extreme brutality. It truly sounds like a straight follow-up to their "Hacked up for barbecue" album; first, the opening introduction is taken from "When a stranger calls up", like the opening intro from "Hacked up.."! This time, this is when police calls the babysitter to warn her that the killer is inside the house (hehe..). The introduction is perfect, it really sets the horrific mood. Musically, Mortician didn't really change either, they're still into frightening apocalyptic grind, energitized by insane drum machine blastbeatings, sometimes calmed down with the slower, doomy variations, and always supported by deep, raw vocals growled from beyond the grave, really sharp guitar riffs, and noisy bass. Compositions sound more in the vein of "House by the cemetary", with a clearer sound, of course, but not clear in the way of "Zombie apocalypse". Here, this is way far heavier, louder & suffocating. It can be a little confusing sometimes, as songs go on quite uncommon roads, structures are maybe less memorable than their old cult, songs like "Mortician", "Bloodcraving" or "Mortal massacre"... but they got quite more intense, heavier, and way more grindy! Really kick ass! As well, they reduced and shortened their introductions, after some fan's complaints... I think it's a loss of frightening sensations, probably a gain of continuity, but I'm quite disappointed by this new approach of intros! Anyway, they're always so influenced by horror movies, by the best movies, with intros from Fulci's "Zombie"(aka "Zombi 2", with the cult eye-skewering scene as intro on "Island of the dead"!), "Henry, portrait of a serial killer", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" or Dario Argento's "Inferno". They're also influenced by quite less interesting horror flicks like "Friday the 13th", "Silent Night, Bloody Night" or "I Drink You Blood and I Eat Your Skin" (which is funny though) and even "Scream" in "Stab". The artwork by mighty Wes Benscotter (again!) is wonderful, as you may guess, always inspired by Texas Chainsaw Massacre (like "Hacked up for barbecue")... Well, sometimes it seems to be like poor remake of their previous stuff, with parts two of songs like Slaughterhouse, Mortician... where they take the same song structures and remake it... this never really gets any better. But 95 % of the stuff is really brand new material. They stay honest to their style. And to me, this is the most important! Here we have 28 insane speed-crazed, heavy gore-grind-death tracks, one of the best sound production I ever heard for this kind of musick. Even though they kept the same direction, they now have something more straightforward in their style... Less intros, more musick! So, Let the chainsaw slaughter start again! It's never over! For those who don't know Mortician yet, this is really their most finished job I think, so try to have a listen to it the faster the better!
Tracks: 1)Stab 2)Fleshripper 3)Drowned In Your Blood 4)Mass Mutilation 5)Mauled Beyond Recognition 6)Rabid 7)Bloodshed 8)Decayed 9)Final Bloodbath 10)Island of The Dead 11)Brutalized 12)Slaughtered 13)The Crazies 14)Silent Night, Bloody Night 15)Chainsaw Dismemberment 16)Psychotic Rage 17)Funeral Feast 18)Wolfen 19)Dark Sanity 20)Camp Blood 21)Tormented 22)Slaughterhouse (pt.2) 23)Barbarian 24)Rats 25)Mater Tenebrum 26)Splattered 27)Obliteration 28)Lord of the Dead (Mortician pt. II) |
