Mortals - Cursed To See The Future

What else is there to say about a band who's members also play on an all-female tribute band to Slayer, called Slaywhore! Not much I guess. Mortals released this, their second full-length, via Relapse Records last year. Since it's release, they've garnered pretty strong acclaim and have shred the boards with the likes of Eyehategod and Wolvhammer! They're a three-piece that plays blackened sludge and they've got more music coming this year, in the form of a split that I'm not gonna mention too much about yet. You'll just have to wait!

Tracklist:-

1. Voice From A Tower
2. Epochryphal Gloom
3. The Summoning
4. Devilspell
5. Series Of Decay
6. Anchored In Time

People use the term “Ungodly” too much these days, especially when describing heavy metal. The term is perfect though when talking about the music contained on Cursed To See The Future. Mortals are the epitome of ungodly with their blackened, off-kilter noise. Album opener View From A Tower starts with absolutely no warning, piercing you with blood-curdling screams and a sound that threatens to overcome you. The guitar is full of menacing low-down melody and groove, while the pace stays at a healthy speed right up to the end.

The lowly bass at the start of the slow-burning Epochryphal Gloom is more of what I was expecting from Mortals and is a nice contract to View From A Tower. The guitar swirls around you during the instrumental build-up as the cymbals crash and tumble. Taking cues from metallic black metal, Mortals fill their music with warm and inviting riffs. Mortals never feel like they’re judging you and anyone is welcome to revel in their racket. I won’t lie, this is good!

As with a lot of the bands on the Relapse roster now, Mortals express themselves in a more expansive way than your average extreme metal band. Eschewing the need to pander to the masses, they stay true to themselves and write songs that people can get lost in. The Summoning is an embodiment of that statement by virtue of it’s near ten-minute length. To think, if bands like Black Sabbath hadn’t existed, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy music like this. It does’t bare thinking about really.

They do their best at conjuring evil-doers with Devilspell. Cliche’d sentences aside, this song is as black as they come. From a guy who finds the melodic charms of Deafheaven too hard to ignore, Mortals are right up there. Just switching off and letting Devilspell’s tones take hold is satisfying in itself. Those tones continue into Series of Decay as well as some of the most intense, rasping screams you’re ever likely to hear.

The drawn-out riff at the end of Series Of Decay leads you into closing song Anchored In Time, which is brief in Mortals terms. Thankfully, it’s not riff-light though. Cursed To See The Future is everything I expected and more. It’s got a real air of quality to it and shows that since their inception in 2009, Mortals have been getting better and better. 

Stream Cursed To See The Future here:-

You can purchase the album digitally, on vinyl and on CD from their bandcamp page.

It's also available from Relapse Records here - http://www.relapse.com/mortals

Mortals Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mortalstheband
Relapse Records Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RelapseRecords