I try my absolute hardest to avoid the craft beer drinking, NPR listening crowd at all costs. But when you have the misfortune of living somewhere like Portland, Austin, or in my case, Chicago, it comes with the territory. And when you cross paths with one of these individuals, they usually harbor some downright asinine opinions, especially when it comes to black metal. I’m talking takes like “Venom is speed metal.”, “Celtic Frost is thrash metal.”, “Mercyful Fate is heavy metal.”, and my favorite one of all, “Sunbather is the greatest album of all time.” Yikes.
They then proceed to tell you that Bathory was the first “true black metal” band, even though Quorthon was initially building upon what Venom had already done, and he alone embodied the genre until the Norwegian scene picked up steam somewhere around 1990. So where do the bands who fell in between that window of time lie? You know: Master’s Hammer, Tormentor, Root, and the subject of today’s review, Mortuary Drape. It’s this point where the hipster, with a confused look upon his usually smug face asks, “Who?”
For those unaware, Mortuary Drape formed all the way back in 1986 as one of Italy’s first black metal bands. Inspired by the whiskey fueled filth of Bulldozer, arcane doom of Black Hole, and unholy spirit of Death SS, Mortuary Drape followed in the footsteps of these fellow countrymen and upped the ante tenfold. Their string of early demos and a 1992 EP, Into the Drape, would prove to be highly influential on the Scandinavian scene that so many take for granted today. Fast forward some 30 years later and Mortuary Drape is still releasing truly wicked metal, this time with a new EP entitled Wisdom – Vibration – Repent.
From songwriting and production to overall delivery and energy, Wisdom – Vibration – Repent adheres strongly to the Mortuary Drape template. The EP opens with the foreboding “In a Candle Flame”, an exercise in dark, doomy traditional metal with blackened aura. The morose gloom of Black Sabbath meets the occult inclinations of Mercyful Fate. In other words, you can’t go wrong. The all too brief “All in One Night” picks up the pace, raising hell at thrashing speed. However, it’s not played or arranged in the manner one would expect of blackened thrash. Furthermore, the eerie gothic undertones make it all the more audially simulating.
Speaking of Mercyful Fate, Mortuary Drape pays tribute to the Danish demigods with a faithful rendition of the 1994 deep cut, “Nightmare Be Thy Name”. Frontman Wildness Perversion doesn’t boast the otherworldly vocal prowess of King Diamond, but his infernal growls work perfectly fine in place. I could use this as another piece of evidence in my argument that Mercyful Fate is a black metal band, but I digress. The metallic unease of “Circle Zero” is nothing short of fascinating, lying somewhere between thrash metal circa ’83 and the aforementioned cryptic doom metal Italy is known for, while the closing “Where Everything Falls” is tense and frantic with no mercy for the listener.
While most bands need a full length album to get their point across, Mortuary Drape has proven yet again that all they need is an EP. They’re not going to fall trap to the same practices of one too many a peer, “filling the CD” to appease the label and releasing a bloated, disjointed, uninspiring album in the process. No, they will work their magick upon the masses however they see fit. I just selfishly hope this EP is a sign of things to come. If so, a grim future awaits.
8 out of 10
Label: Peaceville Records
Genre: Black Metal
For fans of: Black Sabbath, Mercyful Fate, Death SS