Mortiferum – Preserved In Torment
Release Date: 5th November 2021
Label: Profound Lore
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Doom Metal, Stoner.
FFO: Undergang, Witch Vomit, Tomb Mold, Fetid.
Review By: Jay Creepy
Imagine walking down a dark, lonely path or through some deep black-hearted woods. You hear nothing but the calm night air blowing by when suddenly a maniac likely wearing a mask made of skin and perhaps dungarees leaps out firing up a chainsaw which understandably aims towards the side of your head of course. The intense noise it makes followed by the brief sludging grind as it penetrates your ear and cranium before death could be similar to this new album by Seattle death metal/ stoner/ doom/ whateverelseyoucancompareto, Mortiferum – in a good way.
Fact is, track one, Eternal Procession, sort of revs up anyway. This is akin to a slower, lumbering tank blasting out Electric Wizard or Sleep. It is nodding head steadily eyes closed lost in a world beyond, as the vocals kick in, punctuated now and then by more hectic screaming guitars. Can hardly understand vocalist, Max Bowman as he growls from the depth of his lungs, but who listens for words? That comes on the second or third listen, maybe via headphones. Track two goes all out old school, sounding barbaric and brutal like those bands who used to do the rounds on tapes with photos of corpses and putrid decay on the covers. Incubus of Bloodstained Visions takes you waaaay back. Moody, gut punching and totally awesome.
Afterward things kind of merge into one constant pit of gravelly production and gurgles until track five, Caudex of Flesh rears its savage head. This one sounds like an audio smack to the jaw. To me, Mortiferum are at their strongest finding an old school violent angry sound, like the first two tunes. The guitar breaks in Caudex of Flesh are different to everything they have given us thus so far, and the drums are way more complex which add backbone to the landscape of noise.
Recorded in twelve days, the album is extremely heavy duty, creating almost a decaying putrid film in your mind. For the most, there’s so much happening behind the vocals that you feel yourself drift into another reality. There’s no sparkles, no smiles, no showcasing, this is raw Neanderthal energy. 
(3.5 / 5)
