Post by The Centurion on Jul 30, 2006 12:43:45 GMT -5
Mortification-Erasing the Goblin
Released-2006
label-MCM Music
Genre-Thrash/death metal
Ok this CD seems to have been a return to form for Steve Rowe, Mick Jelnic, and the new guy Damien Percy. After last years semi dissapointing release of Brain Cleaner, Steve has been saying that the new project was going to be heavier, faster, and more extreme than anything on Brain Cleaner. So here it is. I have the MCM version of this release. The problems begin in the title of the album. I dont think I would have used the word erasing, or goblin in the title. The artwork is a cheese sandwich with eight different types of cheeses for it features a goblin with a shard of wood through his heart while he sits on a rocking chair. The look of suprsie on his face is priceless. The mort logo is a crappy lime green color and all the text for the lyrics inside are lime green too. I guess this is supposed to support the mortification cheese flavored jello coming out next month We arent here to review the artwork though.
Cheesy artwork aside though, this disc is probably their best since Relentless and is a bit better than that disc as well. Razorback opens the album with a thrash riff that makes you think you accidently put the Mort self titled back in. The drumming is very fast with lots of double bass. The riffing is on fire, the solo is great. The vocals are being growled again. By the end of the song I think to myself that Im really gonna love this CD. The title track is where things start to get iffy. The song Erasing the Goblin features Steve's (normal now I guess) thrash yelling style. He does very few death vocals on this song. The fast paced bass driven riff on this song has become too commonplace on past Mort releases and has started to grate on me. The guitar solo is the best part of this song being very epic. The song would have been tons better if it had been half as long since really the whole song is played once and then it seems like they just played it over again. The Dead Shall be Judged comes on next and we go back to thrash/death land equiped with more growling fast double bass parts. There is an awsome groovey riff at the beggining. Everything about this song is better than the last song. This is probably one of the highlights of the album since it has quite a few death metal "scrolls" moments on it. What makes these songs so awsome is Mick Jelinics guitar solos. One thing I noticed too that I really didnt realize till this track, but Damien Percy is a freaking great drummer, right up there with Sherlock, his speed and precision is a welcome addition to this old machine. After that we are greated with a slower more doomy entrance to the song Escaping the Blasphemous Tabernacle, and really it is somewhere in the middle of Razorback and Erasing the Goblin. I honestly am not sure what to think of this song. Its not bad, but its not really too stand out either. The repetition of it is the only thing I dislike about it. Steve's vocals also fall between growls and shouts on this one. After that Your Time comes back into the world of fast thrash metal. Percy hits us with a ton of double bass while Steve and Mick thrash us in the face. Steves deeper vocals are back on this one. The grooves on this song are really good too. Another great guitar solo on this one. Forged in Stone starts off with Steve growling out Forged In Stone, kind of a throwback to Buried Into Obscurity. This song was kind of like Escaping the Blasphemous Tabernacle, it was just ok. There is also an akward moment where the whole song just stops and Steve growls out Forged In Stone and then the song continues. Next comes my favorite song on the album Way Truth Life. This song is an all out death/thrash onslaught with Percy giving us everything he's got on his double bass pedal. This song features the most death metal on the album and is just a real rocker. The vocals are growled deep and at times it feels like its 93 again. Humanitarian comes on next and slows things around as it is the mandatory slow song on this Morty album. I didnt like this song when I first heard it, but after reading the lyrics and really listening to it, Ive begun to like it a lot more. It has a slow pace, but the riffs are freaking heavy with a good melancholy feel to them. Then we speed things up a bit with Short Circuit which is just a really cool thrash song with a lot of lyrics to fill up the time. Jelinic plays a cool solo(of course) on this song, and the lyrics to it are not cheesy at all which is a welcome break. For some reason Steves yelling vocals on this song sound cool and dont annoy me at all. This song was written completely by Damien Percy and it is a fresh sound for the band. I wouldnt mind hearing a whole album in this style someday. On my copy of this disc the last song is called Servants of the Supreme Message. This song falls somewhere between Erasing the Goblin and The Dead Shall Be Judged, but honestly, its not too great of a song. I would have liked to hear a song more like Short Circuit or Way Truth Life. The Chorus of the song is heavy and grinding though, that should be noted since its the highlight of the song. Musically this disc is the first Mort disc Ive heard in awhile that the good really outweighs the bad. Where I see the most progress though is the songs that are written by a combination of people. The songs that are the best like Razorback, The Dead Shall Be Judged, Your Time, and Way Truth Life. The words were written by Steve Rowe and the music was written by Mick Jelinic.
Lyrically this album tries to deviate from normal Mort type lyrics. There is a lot more attitude on this album. The cheese is still there in songs like Erasing the Goblin and Forged In Stone. But for the most part these lyrics have a far more serious tone to them. Short Circuit had great lyrics to it as well and was a fresh change.
Overall this disc had a lot more high points than low points. If the band sticks with this lineup for the next album I think it will work out the problems of this one. A great improvement from the past. I hope to see more songs like Way Truth Life and Short Circuit in the future.
-Reviewed by Dan.
Released-2006
label-MCM Music
Genre-Thrash/death metal
Ok this CD seems to have been a return to form for Steve Rowe, Mick Jelnic, and the new guy Damien Percy. After last years semi dissapointing release of Brain Cleaner, Steve has been saying that the new project was going to be heavier, faster, and more extreme than anything on Brain Cleaner. So here it is. I have the MCM version of this release. The problems begin in the title of the album. I dont think I would have used the word erasing, or goblin in the title. The artwork is a cheese sandwich with eight different types of cheeses for it features a goblin with a shard of wood through his heart while he sits on a rocking chair. The look of suprsie on his face is priceless. The mort logo is a crappy lime green color and all the text for the lyrics inside are lime green too. I guess this is supposed to support the mortification cheese flavored jello coming out next month We arent here to review the artwork though.
Cheesy artwork aside though, this disc is probably their best since Relentless and is a bit better than that disc as well. Razorback opens the album with a thrash riff that makes you think you accidently put the Mort self titled back in. The drumming is very fast with lots of double bass. The riffing is on fire, the solo is great. The vocals are being growled again. By the end of the song I think to myself that Im really gonna love this CD. The title track is where things start to get iffy. The song Erasing the Goblin features Steve's (normal now I guess) thrash yelling style. He does very few death vocals on this song. The fast paced bass driven riff on this song has become too commonplace on past Mort releases and has started to grate on me. The guitar solo is the best part of this song being very epic. The song would have been tons better if it had been half as long since really the whole song is played once and then it seems like they just played it over again. The Dead Shall be Judged comes on next and we go back to thrash/death land equiped with more growling fast double bass parts. There is an awsome groovey riff at the beggining. Everything about this song is better than the last song. This is probably one of the highlights of the album since it has quite a few death metal "scrolls" moments on it. What makes these songs so awsome is Mick Jelinics guitar solos. One thing I noticed too that I really didnt realize till this track, but Damien Percy is a freaking great drummer, right up there with Sherlock, his speed and precision is a welcome addition to this old machine. After that we are greated with a slower more doomy entrance to the song Escaping the Blasphemous Tabernacle, and really it is somewhere in the middle of Razorback and Erasing the Goblin. I honestly am not sure what to think of this song. Its not bad, but its not really too stand out either. The repetition of it is the only thing I dislike about it. Steve's vocals also fall between growls and shouts on this one. After that Your Time comes back into the world of fast thrash metal. Percy hits us with a ton of double bass while Steve and Mick thrash us in the face. Steves deeper vocals are back on this one. The grooves on this song are really good too. Another great guitar solo on this one. Forged in Stone starts off with Steve growling out Forged In Stone, kind of a throwback to Buried Into Obscurity. This song was kind of like Escaping the Blasphemous Tabernacle, it was just ok. There is also an akward moment where the whole song just stops and Steve growls out Forged In Stone and then the song continues. Next comes my favorite song on the album Way Truth Life. This song is an all out death/thrash onslaught with Percy giving us everything he's got on his double bass pedal. This song features the most death metal on the album and is just a real rocker. The vocals are growled deep and at times it feels like its 93 again. Humanitarian comes on next and slows things around as it is the mandatory slow song on this Morty album. I didnt like this song when I first heard it, but after reading the lyrics and really listening to it, Ive begun to like it a lot more. It has a slow pace, but the riffs are freaking heavy with a good melancholy feel to them. Then we speed things up a bit with Short Circuit which is just a really cool thrash song with a lot of lyrics to fill up the time. Jelinic plays a cool solo(of course) on this song, and the lyrics to it are not cheesy at all which is a welcome break. For some reason Steves yelling vocals on this song sound cool and dont annoy me at all. This song was written completely by Damien Percy and it is a fresh sound for the band. I wouldnt mind hearing a whole album in this style someday. On my copy of this disc the last song is called Servants of the Supreme Message. This song falls somewhere between Erasing the Goblin and The Dead Shall Be Judged, but honestly, its not too great of a song. I would have liked to hear a song more like Short Circuit or Way Truth Life. The Chorus of the song is heavy and grinding though, that should be noted since its the highlight of the song. Musically this disc is the first Mort disc Ive heard in awhile that the good really outweighs the bad. Where I see the most progress though is the songs that are written by a combination of people. The songs that are the best like Razorback, The Dead Shall Be Judged, Your Time, and Way Truth Life. The words were written by Steve Rowe and the music was written by Mick Jelinic.
Lyrically this album tries to deviate from normal Mort type lyrics. There is a lot more attitude on this album. The cheese is still there in songs like Erasing the Goblin and Forged In Stone. But for the most part these lyrics have a far more serious tone to them. Short Circuit had great lyrics to it as well and was a fresh change.
Overall this disc had a lot more high points than low points. If the band sticks with this lineup for the next album I think it will work out the problems of this one. A great improvement from the past. I hope to see more songs like Way Truth Life and Short Circuit in the future.
-Reviewed by Dan.