ALBUM REVIEW: Wisdom Vibration Repent – Mortuary Drape
There are many things that one might associate with the proud nation of Italy. Her culinary prowess is often chief among them, followed by her sheer natural beauty or perhaps even the rich and influential history that has been written on her soil. To a person of a certain mindset however, they may immediately jump to the country’s position as birthplace of one of the most legendary bands ever consigned to the flesh-bound tome of occult black metal. That band is MORTUARY DRAPE, who have glanced up from that tome for the first time in eight long years to weave their ancient magick rituals once more in the form of their new mini-album Wisdom – Vibration – Repent.
The album opens with In A Candle Flame; a suitably dingy intro quickly gives way to a purulent dirge that portrays a polished version of the classing MORTUARY DRAPE sound. You know the one, it’s the one that sounds like the unwashed bastard child of MERCYFUL FATE and In The Sign Of Evil-era SODOM being lashed with stygian melody. This is not a formula that is disrupted in any way as we move into All In One Night, which merely kicks up the speed of the assault with a riff that could not be described as anything less than utter filth. As an opening salvo, this is pure black metal necromancy.
Taking pride of place as the album’s centrepiece is a cover of MERCYFUL FATE’s Nightmare Be Thy Name, which essentially sounds like somebody took the original and shifted the pitch down. It’s a fantastic interpretation that feels like a serious homage to a band that obviously are well loved by the DRAPE. It also bears the truest mark of a quality cover version however, that being that it could be mistaken for a song they’ve actually written themselves. It has that barrelling, muscular feel to it while still absolutely exploding with spooky, occult-tinged melody. It’s far from just a cheap impression and is arguably almost better than the original. Almost.
Circle Zero sets the pace for the back of the album with a big, dirty d-Beat and simply does not relent, sounding like the soundtrack to a nightmare that Tom Angelripper has at some point in the past woken up from, soaked in sweat and disorientated. It’s dank, dirty and choked with riffs, to the point where it would not be unreasonable to assume that if at least one of your feet aren’t tapping remorselessly to the beat, there may well be something wrong with you.
Rounding out the assault is Where Everything Falls. Opening with a typically creepy intro, you can almost hear the malicious spirits whistling through the spaces in between the surrounding gravestones as this one builds and we can say for certain that the devil rides tonight when that d-beat kicks in. It’s a proper neck-snapper of a beat locked in with fistfuls of bewitching riffs. We break out into a powerful blast and a stop-start alternation between blistering pace and screaming melody, pummelling the listener into submission and leaving them trampled and bleeding as the album thunders off into the distance.
Overall, Wisdom – Vibration – Repent is absolutely top-drawer. It’s short, punchy and to the point, with no slack to be found anywhere along its sinewy, macabre form. It is rare to find an offering from late in a classic band’s career that offers material that would fit seamlessly alongside their early output, but every song displayed here could easily be a lost cut from All The Witches Dance, making for a sublime and satisfying listen. All hail MORTUARY DRAPE, for they are on absolutely storming form.
Rating: 9/10
Wisdom – Vibration – Repent is out now via Peaceville Records.
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