Fantastical and Industrial

The Grudge (Earache)

Mortiis

By Leslie Ritchie

Listening to this CD scared the hell out of me - but in a good way. I'm sure I would love The Grudge if I were at an underground rave, dropping hits of acid. I suspect these guys would put on one hell of a show.

Mortiis, the man with the voice and his three member Norwegian band - Levi Gawron, Asmund Sveinunggard and Leo Troy - is metal meets electro-industrial. One moment you can't understand the screaming pitch of Mortiss voice, then with the ever-changing quality of the CD, his pitch seems to settle down from time to time.

"Way too wicked," the second track on this album, is actually what kept me interested in listening to the rest of the album. The whole CD, however, is pretty wicked - the stuff a vampire would listen to while watching a scary movie. The music on the album rarely wavers, but the lyrics the album holds are very fantastical, reminding me a little of System of A Down but with more of a techno mix.

For all you people out there that dig the bizarre and/or like industrial music, no doubt you will love Mortiis. If you are looking to get into a different sound or style check these guys out, especially if you dig black metal.

You can check these guys out online at www.mortiis.com.