Mortualia — Self Titled
As you probably have guessed from cover art and the names mentioned, we're talking about Black Metal. Albeit there's absolutely no doubt it's black metal, this record tries to force the limits of the genre with its very slow and repetitive riffs seemingly going on forever; no blast beats at all; a depressive and dilated atmosphere; and echoed squealing pig vocals and almost structure-less songs that have more in common with psychedelic compositions than with metal.
The incessant repetition of the simple and atmospheric riffs sounds like something out of LaMonte Young 's head, if he was born in the cold winters of Finland and if he was climbing the snowy cliff on the cover of this CD. Pretty loud bass lines just enforce and enrich the reiteration, making my head bob in approval for the whole length of the album.
Tracks go from the 7 minutes to the 18 minutes mark, and the album, comprising of the bonus track, lasts around 80 minutes. Each track doesn't evolve much, preferring to indulge in obsessive cyclic patterns. There's pretty much no difference in the structure and sound of the various tracks. This makes “Mortualia” a very enduring and challenging listen, even for somebody who's used to crank his harsh noise albums at horrible volume for hours.
I feel an ambient-like approach to the listening of this album is appropriate: just leave the music in the background, don't pay attention to the details and let yourself be engulfed by the cold atmosphere evoked by the sounds. As ridiculous as it may sound, this CD sounds like an obsessive Burzum track mixed with the psychedelic routine of Les Rallizes Dénudés. I wonder if Shatraug is aware of what he did and planned it in advance, or if it just came natural to him.
Not a bad album at all, but its demanding length and excessive repetition make it definitely not for everybody.