Mortuus

Mortuus are a Swedish black/death metal band. Mortuus recorded the 7” Silence Sang the Praise of Death which was released by The Ajna Offensive in 2005. The members “decided to put the project to death after the seven-inch was recorded, but a new desire to express ourselves through this medium grew – and thus we ‘re-formed’ the band (even though it never will be a band in the traditional sense)”, as stated in an interview posted by The Ajna Offensive.^[2] The interview was followed by the album De contemplanda morte (De reverencie laboribus ac adorationis), “a concept album dealing with Death ascension (from the deeps of the qliphoth to the very heart of Death)”,^[2] which The Ajna Offensive released in 2007.

Musical style

The band’s single included a description of Mortuus as being “the primitive expression”. A member of the band stated that “Mortuus is really primitive music-wise. It is not due to lack of musical knowledge or technique, but because we like it that way. The lyrics and ideas expressed through our lyrics are often very complex, but they are still channeled through a very primitive but effective medium.” According to the band, “[t]here are many differences between the ep and the album, but the essence and atmosphere are the same”.^[2]

According to Eduardo Rivadavia, “although their music positively drips at all times with black metal's incomparably oppressive ambiance, sinister sounds, and deeply occult and nihilistic lyrical themes, the interesting thing about Mortuus is that their typical songs (e.g. ‘Penetrations of Darkness,’ ‘Constant Descent of Seraphim,’ etc.) actually feature ponderous pacing, lengthy guitar chords, and echoing growls reminiscent of death metal and doom. Even when they do make way for some momentary blastbeat and speed-picking activity, smashing into the rubble of their creations with the rage and force of a typhoon, other cuts like ‘Astral Pandemonium,’ ‘Illumination of God’ and ‘Rebirth in the Sterile Triad of Six,’ astonishingly remain prevalently focused on lengthy, dread-filled funeral dirges.”^[3]

Ideology

The single’s cover displays an inverted pentagram because “[i]t was and is a firm cover, fitting the atmosphere of the recording. We choose it because it was a symbol representating [sic!] our faith, which played an important role in our spiritual world-view“. The faith the member refers to is Devil worship, although the musician who answered the interview on The Ajna Offensive’s site stated that they “simply don’t need to use any form of –ist today” and “have learned that subjecting ourselves to merely serve the vices of creation cannot possibly be the escape from life. There has not been a change of religion, but it is a different angle to the highest Deity. We worship Death, and aspire to die in the God of it, nothing more, nothing less. There is no single symbol that could represent our God in a righteous way.”^[2]

The members used no pseudonyms because they “don’t want or need to have our names printed on the releases, and we have a sincere desire to avoid the childish quest for high status and ‘a good name’ within the scene”, but put photographs of themselves on the record, mostly “to avoid speculations regarding who we are” and because “we figured that a half-anonymous project would be less interesting to speak of than one of complete secrecy”.^[2]

Discography

• Silence Sang the Praise of Death (7”, The Ajna Offensive 2005)
• De contemplanda morte (De reverencie laboribus ac adorationis) (The Ajna Offensive 2007)
• Grape of the Vine (Full-length, The Ajna Offensive 2014)^[4]

References