ALBUM REVIEW: Slow Death – Mortem
It is not every day that you can bear witness to the unearthing of an artefact of a bygone time. Today though, that is definitely the case. In a display of spectacular fan service, black metal forefathers MORTEM have re-recorded and reissued their legendary demo Slow Death, which was originally recorded in 1989 before the fledgeling band split and its members moved on to groundbreaking and notorious projects such as ARCTURUS, THORNS and of course MAYHEM. On this special release, we find a fully re-recorded version alongside a fresh tape transfer of the original demo from a new source.
When listening to this album, it seemed to be most effective to listen to the original demo versions first and then flick back to their newly re-recorded counterparts. The original demo, as produced by Euronymous himself, is quintessentially early doors Norwegian black metal. It is savage, aggressive and steeped in what would later become known as the “Necro-sound”, whereas the re-recorded versions are packed with details that it would be hopeless to even try to discern from the surrounding maelstrom of sheer misanthropic noise that the demo presents.
Opening track Mutilated Corpse for example, is a funerary procession of a riff supplemented by Hellhammer’s immediately recognisable, tom-heavy drum work. There are keyboards laced throughout the backdrop of the track, just enough to overlay icy little fractals of atmosphere across the gallop of snotty aggression beneath, something which you would be hard pressed to make out in its demo, if indeed they are even present at all.
One thing that is an immediate draw to this album is the sheer amount of riffs it features, tracks like Milena are built around taut, muscular riffs, the main feature here being a lurching and stamping beast that is flanked by the Benzedrine thunder of a imprecise yet wonderfully effective old-school black metal blast beat. You can almost hear the vertebrae being dislodged in the dingy basements of Oslo to this one. The same can definitely be said for Agonized To Suicide, which is raw in that deeply satisfying way that old-school extreme metal often is, punchy, throaty and aggressive, with a very definite edge to the production that makes it feel genuinely threatening.
Turning to title track Slow Death, it is very apparent quite how ahead of its time this demo really was. It is a cacophony of tight rhythm work and jagged bolts of tremolo that honestly could have been written last week by someone with a deep understanding of the genre’s aesthetics. By the time the demo has been rounded out by Nightmare, this should be the take away for everyone who has made it this far. The intro to this track is positively oozing with pitch-black atmosphere. It’s all murky keys and light cymbals that progress into enormous lumbering power chords. This all gives way in the back half to unbridled speed before some final gut-punch chords round out the demo and consign it to extreme metal history.
Turning to the newly included bonus tracks, we find a rendition of the old MORTEM track Satanas which has a slight death metal tinge to it whilst still being utterly drenched in occult atmosphere, particularly in its middle section where a stirring keyboard refrain is introduced. Also included is a cover of the MAYHEM classic Funeral Fog, only this is sung in Norwegian and rechristened Likferd. Not much needs to be said about this song as it is surely very well known by anyone with even a remote interest in the Norwegian scene, but rest assured, it’s a cracking version.
Overall, hats should be off to MORTEM and to Peaceville for this project. Here we have a genuine artefact given the respect and treatment it deserves. Slow Death is an influential piece of music and the landscape of black metal would likely be different without its presence, so to re-record, remaster and re-release it in its entire and expanded formats feels like a true labour of love, a very welcome one at that. Pick this one up, if you have even the slightest love for that strange and murky time period where black metal’s first wave was rolling back but its second had not quite crested, when all kinds of rough, raw and wonderful albums were being produced; there’s no chance you’ll regret it.
Rating: 8/10
Slow Death is out now via Peaceville Records.
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