Mortuous – Upon Desolation
Release Date: 16th September 2022
Label: Carbonized/Extremely Rotten Productions
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Doom Metal, Old-School Death Metal.
FFO: Autopsy, My Dying Bride, Incantation, Mortiferum.
Review By: Eric Wilt
Mortuous is made up of past and present members of Exhumed, Necrot, Vastum, and Acephalix just to name a few. With death metal pedigree like that, it’s not surprising that their latest release, Upon Desolation, is a must-hear album for fans of the genre. Comprised of Colin Tarvin on guitar and vocals, Michael Beams on guitar, vocals, and piano, Clint Roach on bass, and Chad Gailey on drums, Mortuous has been pummeling listeners with a killer mixture of death and doom metal since 2009. Following up their debut record, 2018s Through Wilderness, Upon Desolation is eight songs and around forty-minutes of brutal goodness that will have listeners banging their head and dragging their knuckles.
Upon Desolation begins with Carve, a throwback to the early days of death metal when bands like Autopsy were just clawing their way out of the sewer. Nothing follows and features a doom section complete with violin that harkens back to the days when My Dying Bride were breaking new ground. Speaking of the early days of death metal, Mortuous visits the era quite often on Upon Desolation, but never crosses the line to nostalgia act. Songs like Days of Gray and Burning Star show that while Mortuous is influenced by the late 80s and early 90s, they are breathing new life into the tried-and-true formula with aggressive riffing and killer solos. Ash and Dismay features a middle section in which single notes played on a piano follow the melody, adding another layer of melancholy to this doom section that is bookended by filthy aggression. While Graveyard Rain closes things out with a death/doom masterclass that would be quite at home on one of Incantation’s early releases (again with a nod to My Dying Bride). Adding a shine to Mortuous’ filthy sound is Greg Wilkinson who keeps the raw power of the songs intact while giving them the modern treatment as far as sonic quality is concerned.
Death/doom metal is a genre that has seen a number of quality releases in the last few years. Mortuous showed with Through Wilderness that they were able to write ragers that could compete with any of the other albums being released at the time. Now, with Upon Desolation, they have cemented their spot as one of the best purveyors of death/doom in the scene today. Fans of Autopsy, My Dying Bride, and Incantation will find much to savour on this rotten slab of disgusting death metal.
(4.5 / 5)
