Mortification - Blood World

mc666 wrote:

after their first 3 albums, they've always been hit or miss for me. no real bad albums, but none all that great either.

This, though I think they've made a couple of real stinkers.

mc666 wrote:

after their first 3 albums, they've always been hit or miss for me. no real bad albums, but none all that great either.

Of those after the first 3, which do you think are the most solid?

Thrasher73 wrote:

I like it just fine.Lots better than some of their other releases

I agree.

Dave the Boss wrote:

mc666 wrote:

after their first 3 albums, they've always been hit or miss for me. no real bad albums, but none all that great either.

This, though I think they've made a couple of real stinkers.

Its kinda funny now that I look at it but my interest in Mort has declined by steadily by release after 1998:

I like these:

Break the Curse (1990)
Mortification (1991)
Scrolls of the Megilloth (1992)
Post Momentary Affliction (1993)
Blood World (1994)
Primitive Rhythm Machine (1995)

These are hit or miss:

EnVision EvAngelene (1996)
Triumph of Mercy (1998)

and I have no interest in these anymore:
Hammer of God (1999)
The Silver Cord is Severed (2001)
Relentless (2002)
Brain Cleaner (2004)
Erasing the Goblin (2006)
The Evil Addiction Destroying Machine (2009)

ultmetal wrote:

mc666 wrote:

after their first 3 albums, they've always been hit or miss for me. no real bad albums, but none all that great either.

Of those after the first 3, which do you think are the most solid?

probably Blood World. i like a lot of Hammer Of God as well, but it's also loaded with filler.

ryanmetalman wrote:

stevegarveyfan wrote:

Not a horrible album, but you have to remember that some of us were used to Jayson Sherlock's drumming, and then Phil Gibson's on the Blood World album. The drumming, while solid, just wasn't the same. And the overall style was such a departure from that to which I had become accustomed. Not a bad album, but it doesn't grab me like the first three.

Exactly. And I think a lot of it had to do with the timing. While it is a good album, before this record was released, Morty was "labeled" as death metal. Obviously there was more to it than that, but a lot of fans lost interest because of the change in musical direction. The thunderous drums ended and Steve stopped growling with that one. Mort put out two of their heaviest records with "Scrolls" and "Post-momentary." The very next album was "Blood World."

Agreed. Whilst it became their highest selling record in the US, the musical direction was certainly different, with more hardcore and classic metal influences evident. Steve's vocal style took on the 'Rambo' style shout, rather than the expected growl. This did alienate some of the Australian fanbase at the time, who were confused by it.

In hindsight, with Mort's continual reinvention, it isn't surprising, and BW is a pretty solid album with some great grooves. At the time, however, it was a big leap. And having said that, I think that Envision Evangeline is a better album!

I agree with Sutekh in that I enjoy EnVision EvAngelene a bit better than I do BloodWorld.

stevegarveyfan wrote:

I agree with Sutekh in that I enjoy EnVision EvAngelene a bit better than I do BloodWorld.

As do I. In fact, strangely, I think it is one of my favorites.

EnVision is fantastic IMO.

stevegarveyfan wrote:

I agree with Sutekh in that I enjoy EnVision EvAngelene a bit better than I do BloodWorld.

I would still go with BW but Envision has its moments.

I think the only good song on EnVision is the title track. The rest bores me to tears, although Noah was a Knower is good for a laugh or two.

Never listened to a note from anything past Post Momentary Affliction. I was never really taken with the first three so I never pursued anything after that. The thing that always lacked for me is the presence of riffs and I never liked the dominance the bass has always had.

But...I need to investigate. I will say I wasn't overly excited about the shouting vocals beginning to surface on PMA. He's got a classic death growl though.

I can find stuff to like on almost all the Mort albums. Some more then others but usually stuff grows on me after a few listens.

T-Roy wrote:

Never listened to a note from anything past Post Momentary Affliction.

that was the best they had to offer really. after that they lose focus.

yeah. I dont they figured out what style of music they wanted to play...

exact33 wrote:

yeah. I dont they figured out what style of music they wanted to play...

I think they knew exactly what they wanted to do. Steve was just never concerned with having to fit into a certain mold, other than it being metal. He's a fan of death metal, thrash metal, classic metal and hardcore, so all those play a hand in his music.

Primitive Rhythm Machine is my fave.

ultmetal wrote:

exact33 wrote:

yeah. I dont they figured out what style of music they wanted to play...

I think they knew exactly what they wanted to do. Steve was just never concerned with having to fit into a certain mold, other than it being metal. He's a fan of death metal, thrash metal, classic metal and hardcore, so all those play a hand in his music.

Hmmmm.....similar to Living Sacrifice aye??

ultmetal wrote:

exact33 wrote:

yeah. I dont they figured out what style of music they wanted to play...

I think they knew exactly what they wanted to do. Steve was just never concerned with having to fit into a certain mold, other than it being metal. He's a fan of death metal, thrash metal, classic metal and hardcore, so all those play a hand in his music.

I know that but I dont think the music was as focused as it was on the earlier albums. When a mort album comes out i will give it a listen but so far none of the newer ones have held my interest. I just find myself in the early albums are best camp.

akeldama wrote:

I've been jamming Blood World a lot this whole week! Symbiosis is prolly my fave song off the album.

The live version of Symbiosis on Live Planetarium is better but it is a good song.

shamgar75 wrote:

akeldama wrote:

I've been jamming Blood World a lot this whole week! Symbiosis is prolly my fave song off the album.

The live version of Symbiosis on Live Planetarium is better but it is a good song.

Do you think it's better, or is it just the version you heard first and thus you like it better?

I agree with those who posted that BW threw them for a loop, as it really was a departure of a style that got the band it's fanbase in the first place. It was never the same again. Sure, Steve has released some great music after the first three, and Blood World is amongst the finest. But it sure isn't the same band anymore....

ultmetal wrote:

shamgar75 wrote:

akeldama wrote:

I've been jamming Blood World a lot this whole week! Symbiosis is prolly my fave song off the album.

The live version of Symbiosis on Live Planetarium is better but it is a good song.

Do you think it's better, or is it just the version you heard first and thus you like it better?

Surrounded by the earlier material on Planetarium, Symbiosis seems a more natural fit there than on BW. I also like the live version better!

I think Morty's best era is from Break The Curse through to Envision. They've maintained catchy tunes since then, but I found the handful of albums released from Triumph onwards to be rather wanting production wise.
For me, I think they started to improve again from Relentless and more so from Brain Cleaner.

On topic, I have always enjoyed Bloodworld. It's a different sound to prior releases but it also seemed quite fast and fresh back then.

ultmetal wrote:

shamgar75 wrote:

akeldama wrote:

I've been jamming Blood World a lot this whole week! Symbiosis is prolly my fave song off the album.

The live version of Symbiosis on Live Planetarium is better but it is a good song.

Do you think it's better, or is it just the version you heard first and thus you like it better?

I actually got Blood World first. Loved Symbiosis when I heard it on
there. A few years later I got the Live Planetarium and heard it on
there; loved the sound better. It sounds heavier. Just my opinion.