Mortiferoth - ...To The Abyss

Mortiferoth hail from New York and have been tastefully devastating ears since 2015. While not a very large discography under their belt between splits and EPs, they recently delivered a new EP entitled “...To The Abyss” which builds on their mix of Thrash Death Metal and continues to climb the rungs of the ladder for the title ‘cosmic Death Metal,’ although Blood Incantation still holds that title supremely. While not as chaotically dissonant as the more renown band, Mortiferoth create a different kind of chaos with their short 5 tracks here but each one is a little different. Opening things up a bit more atmospherically than their previous EP, ‘Unholy Frequencies’ draws listeners in with some very noisy static and distorted hymn singing that really brings in a sci fi feel before the Death Metal kicks in fully.

The 3 piece performs in a style mixed between Enforced, Vader, and Deicide. One can hear the Thrash element clearly just like the Death Metal parts when a track like ‘The Vactican’s Elite’ comes in; it is rough in the Old School Death Metal style- especially the vocals- but what the band really focus in on is the bass and drums, which is rather unique when most Death Metal bands go for riffs and vocals. The near double bass drumming is very Vader style from Steve Miller, while the guitarwork and multi pronged vocals from Joselo can be hypnotic at times such as on ‘Decay’ and other times downright ferocious like on the second track. ‘Cosmic Winter’ is where one can real feel the fury of the band as they go full force Death Metal with the rumbling bass from Brian Hobbie, but Mortiferoth also felt to expand on their songwriting ability as well compared to previous works. The closing ‘Retaliation….’ is the band’s longest track and features some of the best varied vocal work, especially near the middle of the track. It is a bit Thrashier than some might like, but still a good display of how the band pushes their boundaries, even if the outro spoken word parts goes on a bit too long.

While not too much to go on, “...To The Abyss” is another teaser for fans to enjoy. While the vocals sound raw and not as polished, one cannot deny the talent in the instrumental work and can appreciate the more atmospheric direction the band is going in. Those who like Death Metal a bit more unorthodox than the usual fuzzed out technical assaults that have been getting lots of attention lately and enjoy a lot of groove to their riffs with a bass focus from both the bass and drums will really enjoy what Mortiferoth has to offer.

3 / 5 STARS