ALBUM REVIEW: Dead Christ Baptism – Lord Mortvm
Black and doom metal are two subgenres that have lots of parallels; a preponderance for occult imagery, a melodramatic, borderline gothic pomp that lends itself to theatrical stage shows, and a tendency to embrace a more stripped back, raw style of songwriting and production. The two styles have often made easy bedfellows, with bands such BETHLEHEM, BARATHRUM and FORGOTTEN TOMB all creating albums that perfectly blend the two genres, resulting in some underrated classics in the process. Norway’s LORD MORTVM are one of the latest acts to attempt this style, with mixed results. The band’s first album, Diabolical Omen Of Hell, leant far too heavily towards classic doom, but showed plenty of promise for what was to come. Their latest effort Dead Christ Baptism is a marked improvement, and has garnered the band some wider attention, although it’s clear that this one-man act is still far from fully finalised musically.
Dead Christ Baptism I is a muscular start to proceedings, with weighty rhythms and soaring leads creating a powerful sound immediately. Arid vocals, percussive drumming and ponderous hooks all contribute to a dramatic and engrossing sound that manages to capture the best of both black metal and classic doom. It’s a strong opener that grabs the listener’s attention. Agony Trip is another solid piece of blackened doom with chunky guitars and hypnotic drums coupled with tortured groans that lend this an air of early ELECTRIC WIZARD, albeit with a claustrophobic production, possessing a meaty groove and slick leads that push the music solidly into doom metal territory.
Eternal Gates, with its brooding, spartan riffs and steady tempo, is a darker effort, gradually building to be a palpable juggernaut with acidic, rasping vocals. Perhaps more so than the preceding tracks, the music is perfectly suited its opaque mix, with this longer, bleaker song holding the listener’s attention more effectively. Interlude, a shorter track centred around minimalistic synths, provides a haunting, atmospheric break from the rest of the album, acting as a stark change of pace and a great segue between the album’s two halves.
God Of Suffering has the same measured pace, huge guitars and visceral vocals that were present earlier, but plays up the rumbling doom undercurrent, and although the music itself is fairly repetitive with little in the way of hooks, it’s more impressive than much of what preceded it because it blends black and doom metal together more effectively. Demon Slaughter, by contrast, is more epic, in no small part due to the excellent guitar work which elevates this song massively. Although much of the rest of the music maintains the same crawling pace and tone, this is an expressive and imaginative offering that definitely stands out for all the right reasons.
Dead Christ Baptism II utilises the same soaring, melancholic riffing, and is far better for it. The lively, energised hooks that are spread liberally throughout this track make it more powerful and suit the chunky rhythms that underpin them extremely well. The sound bites, similar to those that featured towards the end of Demon Slaughter, and spartan moments also help to break up the over-arching heaviness and turn this into an engrossing and beguiling affair, resulting in a fantastic, climactic song that helps bring the album proper to a close perfectly. Finale, another short piece that is centred solely around a sound bite, edited to add a cinematic quality to it, feels almost as if it has been tacked onto the end of the record, and although an interesting way to conclude, it doesn’t feel necessary.
This album is certainly a step up creatively from 2021’s Diabolical Omen Of Hell, with more adventurous leads in particular making some of these songs far more memorable than what featured on the band’s debut, although there’s still some work that needs doing to improve their sound further. Perhaps the biggest factor that hinders this album from being as brilliant as it could be is that the black and doom metal elements within its sound are distinct, separate entities that rarely blend together, with the result being that many of these songs feel like doom metal tracks with shrieking vocals and a dirtier production value. A genuine mixing of these two styles, along with a more confident approach to solid lead guitars, could very well produce some excellent, engrossing music, and could make LORD MORTVM a significantly more effective act within blackened doom.
Rating: 7/10
Dead Christ Baptism is out now via Helter Skelter Productions.
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