Mortuus push the borders of black metal into the realms of doom and sludge. Or perhaps they break new ground for the doom and sludge tribes by annexing the blackened lands. It is not eminently clear which genre holds greatest sway with this band, whose motley and piebald mix is like black metal played at the bottom of the sea, where chords linger in the vast depths like a strangled whalesong before expiring into silence and the roar of waves miles above. Yet De Contemplanda Morte, replete though it may be with the flora and fauna of doom, takes place in a realm ruled by aggression and blasphemy, purposes rarely seen outside the midnight rituals of black metal.

Although I hate to bring up nationalism when discussing matters purely musical, I cannot help but notice that Mortuus hail from Sweden, known for producing raging titans of Satanic black metal. On the other hand, since Candlemass and Katatonia, Sweden has not been known as an epicenter of doomed hymns and funeral dirges. So in my mind, Mortuus are something like a black metal band, in the fine tradition of their country, that strives toward lamentation and sorrow. The result is a bipolar sound that vacillates from lightning riffs and pummeling drums to endless, staggering, droning chords and throbbing beats. In between the two extremes is what the band prefers, a midpaced and indecisive sound that mingles elements of both. Sometimes slow and feedback heavy guitars flow alongside chaotic fast-paced drums. Sometimes the singer deeply groans as though he is being pulled slowly into the grave by the chill hand of Thanatos, sometimes rasps and shrieks as though he is emerging from it with Satan at his back. Almost all the tracks on De Contemplanda Morte fall into this middle ground. "Astral Pandemonium" is the fiery apex of their Satanic ascent, while "The Illumination of God" is the lumbering low-point, plodding its doomy way into the underworld. All else exists in a hazy plane where anything goes.

Personally, I find myself drawn to a slow rattle of drums amidst titanic, buzzing chords. The band's use of doom elements is competent, I feel like it struggles to integrate itself into the whole. Genre-straddling I enjoy, but it should be a means to an end, not fluctuation between different styles for its own sake. I am sure there are countless names for this style of music because it doesn't fit neatly into a predefined category. Does a blistering blastbeat belong in a slow song? If used properly, it can forge a new tension that a pure dirge lacks. Yet if not, the two elements never mix, like a layer of oil above pure water. Sometimes the layers still sound good and sometimes they do not, and I imagine that the degree to which it leans in either direction, black or doom, will be the degree to which any particular fan enjoys it.
www.theajnaoffensive.com

Cameron Higby-Naquin

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 Past Constructive Criticism

John posted the following Constructive Criticism: I really can't see the point in basing an entire review on discussing whether this belongs to that genre or not. I've heard the album, and would definitely say that it's a death/black metal album - although slower and more eerie than most bands, but that's not the point. I'd still like to say that if this be the marrige of black and doom metal, then they truly succeded in bringing out the best and most extreme of both genres. The presentation of the music, lyrics and art work should be more important than forcing it into a certain category though. By the way, the song is called "The Illumination of Job" and not of "God".