Mortification - Scribe of the Pentateuch EP

Mortification is a band that will divide metalheads purely based on their ideology alone. They are, yes, one of those Christian metal bands, one of those that go against the grain and use an art form that is aesthetically and traditionally prone to blasphemy for worship. In fact these Aussies are one of the more well-known light forces (Light Force was actually the previous name of Mortification) , having churned out a steady flow of records since 1991, and they’re still going at it. They’ve experimented with marginally different variations of metal (as we shall see here), but generally kept to a death/thrash core. Now, personally I couldn’t be fucked what your ideologies are, but I do care about your music. While Mortification have made many moves that disappointed me over the course of their long career, none of them were to do with Christianity (or at least not directly). I still think Scrolls of the Megilloth is a classic slab of Aussie metal – a dirty, little death metal record with plenty of fury and a depraved, surprisingly evil tone that seemed contradictory to their lyrical content. Twenty years down the track, I stand in a different place, however.

The latest Mortification EP, Scribe of the Pentateuch, has much of the musical content we loved on early Mortification – namely their dirty, thrashy, Morbid Angel-esque death riffs – but there are strong touches of traditional doom or heavy metal on tracks such as “Scribe of the Pentateuch” and “In Garland Hall”. This genre move itself is not the mistake, but rather the execution of the entire mini-album is where failure lies. The vocals sound adolescent and poorly rehearsed, both clean and harsh, as if they are being pushed thoughtlessly into the microphone by an unfounded sense of self-assurance. The riffs whether they be death, thrash or heavy metal are clumsy and carelessly written, rehashing the boring mistakes of many bands from three different sub-genres, and of the musicians themselves. One actually wonders why Mortification has continued down the path of metal long since their musical freshness and vigour has been depleted. Once-present speed and monstrosity has not been reclaimed on this stale-sounding record.  On the other hand, the attitude and philosophy of the music seems to be still very much alive, and I think these days this is Mortification’s primary driving force. As much as I might claim to be indifferent to ideologies, I suspect the Bible-bashing nature of this band is hindering their musical progression and quality, taking precedence over the music itself. Throw on top some mind-numbingly shit cover art (are they really suggesting robotic alien construction vehicles penned the books of Moses?) , and you have a pretty unsatisfactory little excursion all around. I will give some meager points due to a moment on the song “Weapons of Mass Salvation” in which some genuine atmosphere is brought about by dark riffing and rare vocal quality.

In summary: Scribe of the Pentateuch feels rushed and uncared-for, a battered vehicle carrying Christian sentiments which has been wearing down for years. Avoid this one.

Standout tracks: “Weapons of Mass Salvation”

Score: 4.0