Review: Mortiis – 'The Great Deceiver'

MORTIIS
'The Great Deceiver'
OMNIPRESENCE

With two brilliant singles in the forms of 'Doppelganger' and 'The Shining Lamp Of God' as well as a new video for 'Demons Are Back' it is immediately evident that Mortiis have set out to take no prisoners with their long-awaited follow-up to their last outing 'Perfectly Defect'. The spiky industrial infused alternative rock formula pioneered on albums such as 'The Smell Of Rain' and 'The Grudge' has been sharpened and refined into some of the best work of the band's career to date.

Distilling the best aspects of the Nothing and Wax Trax sounds into one loud and aggressive monster. The band power through twelve focused and catchy tracks that blend hard guitars and electronic embellishments to perfectly frame Håvard Ellefsen's maniacal vocal performance.

The previously mentioned 'Doppelganger', 'The Shining Lamp Of God', and 'Demons Are Back' are joined by tracks such as 'The Ugly Truth', 'Bleed Like You', 'Feed The Greed', and 'Too Little Too Late' which give the album a strong backbone that balances aggression and accessibility with ease. While tracks like 'Hard To Believe', and 'Road To Ruin' shake the expected formula up a little more by incorporating elements such as overt acoustic guitar work and more electronic led sections for a stripped back but nonetheless brilliant performance.

The production is excellent. Clear and modern with just the right amount of dirty electronic noises to leave a bad taste in your mouth. The band are undoubtedly on top form on this album. They have taken their time, focussed hard on the song construction and the end result is going to please not only long-time Mortiis fans, but also fans of industrial rock in general.

It has been a long time coming, but 'The Great Deceiver' was worth the wait. Hopefully this album will see the love it deserves returned to it and a follow-up album sooner rather than later. But in the here and now this is a great album and one that the band should be very proud of. 

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