Mortification (band)

Last updated

Mortification
Also known asLightforce
Origin Moorabbin, Victoria, Australia
Genres
Years active1987 (1987)–present
Labels Intense, Nuclear Blast, Rowe
Members Steve Rowe
Lincoln Bowen
Andrew Esnouf
Past members Jayson Sherlock
Phil Gibson
Keith Bannister
Bill Rice
Dave Kilgallon
Mike Forsberg
Cameron Hall
Michael Carlisle
Jeff Lewis
Damien Percy
George Ochoa
Adam Zaffarese
Mick Jelinic
Johnny Vasquez
Website roweproductions.com

Mortification is an Australian Christian death metal band which was formed in 1987 as a heavy metal group, Lightforce, by mainstay Steve Rowe on bass guitar and vocals. By 1990, in the Melbourne suburb of Moorabbin, they were renamed as Mortification with the line-up of Rowe, Michael Carlisle on guitar and Jayson Sherlock on drums. Mortification has released fourteen studio albums, three compilation albums, three extended plays, six live discs, one demo album, one box set, and several videos on major record labels such as Nuclear Blast. As one of the earliest internationally successful Christian death metal bands from Australia, [2] they served as an inspiration for later similar groups.

Contents

During the early 1990s, Mortification played death and thrash metal. After the departure of Sherlock, Mortification began experimenting with groove metal, hardcore punk and power metal. They achieved commercial success with Blood World in 1994 and received critical acclaim for 1996's EnVision EvAngelene . [2] Despite the lack of subsequent commercial success or mainstream critical recognition, "the band, in spite of their extreme sound, are some kind of superstars in the 'White Metal' scene", [3] and have been described as "a legend in the death metal scene." [4]

In late 1996, Rowe was diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukaemia and took 18 months to recover.[ citation needed ] Mortification issued their tenth album, Triumph of Mercy in August 1998 and accompanied it with a tour of North America. By August 1999, the band had sold a total of a quarter of a million albums across Europe and the US. They returned to their death/thrash roots for the 2004 album, Brain Cleaner .

History

Original line-up

In 1987, bass guitarist and vocalist Steve Rowe formed the Australian power metal band LightForce with Murray Adams on guitar, Steve Johnson on vocals and Errol Willenberg on drums. [5] The group played on the local metal scene and signed with United States label, Pure Metal Records to release their debut album, Mystical Thieves in May 1989. [5] They supported US Christian glam metallers Stryper on their 1989 tour of Australia. In 1990, Rowe, was determined to play heavy music with a Christian message, and was joined by drummer Jayson Sherlock and guitarist Cameron Hall under the LightForce name to record the demo Break the Curse . The group had changed musically towards thrash metal with a death metal influence and when Michael Carlisle replaced Hall on guitar, they were renamed Mortification. According to Rowe, the name comes from the King James Bible , "Mortify therefore the deeds of the flesh." [6] Break the Curse was released in 1991 as Mortification's second album. [5]

Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg
"Scrolls of the Megilloth"
Sample of "Scrolls of the Megilloth" by Mortification, from Scrolls of the Megilloth (1992). The album's music garnered the band some attention from the heavy metal underground and, according to AllMusic, contains some of the most frightening vocals ever recorded. [7]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

In early 1991, they released their self-titled debut album on the US Christian label Intense Records. [5] The direction of the music had changed once again. A lot of the songs were taken from their demo Break the Curse, but the band tuned their guitars down, and the feel to the songs was a lot more heavy and doomy than on previous material. Also, Rowe proved to be an excellent death metal vocalist, presenting his "Grind Baritone vocals of extreme reality" throughout the album. According to AllMusic, the band "sought to provide a positive alternative to traditional death metal acts such as Carcass, Death and Obituary. On the strength of their self-titled 1990 debut, Mortification quickly gained a reputation in their native Australia for being one of the loudest and fastest bands around." [7]

In 1992, the band signed a deal with Nuclear Blast Records in Germany, [5] which had many European death metal groups on their roster. Mortification released their third album, Scrolls of the Megilloth , which had great success and, in the Christian metal scene, is considered a classic as well as a piece of Australian metal history. The line-up had outdone themselves, playing some fast death metal with a few doom metal influences on a couple of tracks. According to AllMusic, the album contains "some of the most frightening vocals ever recorded." [7]

Jayson Sherlock had his last concert with the band at the Black Stump Festival '93, and the concert was released both on CD and also VHS under the name Live Planetarium . A big US major magazine cited the Live Planetarium video as the best live album and video they have ever seen and heard. [8]

The band released a new album in 1994 called Blood World . They leaned more towards modern groove/thrash with classic metal and hardcore punk influence [8] rather than death metal, and Steve mainly used his shouts rather than growling. Phil and Michael left the band, and Steve stood by himself. The strange combination of extreme styles began setting Mortification apart from the crowd of same sounding bands and widened the band's audience as they became quickly recognised as innovators and not imitators. [8] Blood World received rave reviews in America and Europe. Horror Infernal Magazine gave the album 13 out of 13 points. [8]

Rowe diagnosed with leukaemia

In late 1996, Steve Rowe was diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukaemia, and after 18 months he was in remission [5] despite a seemingly failed bone marrow transplant. Soon after, Mortification recorded their tenth album, Triumph of Mercy , and released it in August 1998. It was issued by Rowe Productions in the US and Nuclear Blast Germany in Europe. Lyrically, the album focused on the experiences of Rowe and the band during the previous two-years. The style of the album was a mixture of groove and thrash. They followed with a North American tour. [5]

1999 saw the release of Hammer of God , also a mix of thrash and groove. The death metal elements had vanished, but the religious message of the lyrics remained. The band's line-up was Rowe, with Keith Bannister on drums and Lincoln Bowen on guitar. [5] They undertook another European tour to promote Hammer of God. [5] By August that year, the group had sold a total of a quarter of a million albums across Europe and the US. [5]

In 2000, Mortification released another live album, recorded at Black Stump Festival in 1999, called 10 Years Live Not Dead , which mainly featured material from their newer albums plus a new song called "Dead Man Walking". Keith Bannister left the band, and a replacement was found in the very young drummer Adam Zaffarese.

The new line-up released the album The Silver Cord is Severed in 2000 and the band went on its first world tour. The music continued to be thrash and groove. While many fans thought the album was the weakest effort in the band's career, The Silver Cord is Severed sold well like its precessors. This was due to the fact that – like Nuclear Blast founder Markus Staiger stated in a newsletter – had become "some kind of superstars in the Christian metal scene". [3]

Return to death/thrash roots

In early 2008, the band's nine early records were re-released by Polish Metal Mind Productions. [9]

On 6 June, it was announced that Mortification will record a new album in 2009. [10] On 5 August, the band stated that they would record a demo for the new album. [11] On 4 February, Rowe announced that the album titled The Evil Addiction Destroying Machine was partially completed, and it was released early June. [12] Confusing many fans, Steve Rowe has reportedly called the new musical direction "easy-listening thrash". Rowe noted in a message for The Metal Resource about the reception of The Evil Addiction Destroying Machine: "With all new Mort releases there have been mixed response; pretty black and white. Some Really Like It and some really Don't Like It. But I knew with presenting the band in a reinvented way it was an excitingly dangerous move!" [13]

In 2016, Rowe spoke in an interview about a re-pressing of Post Momentary Affliction on vinyl. He stated that former drummer Jayson Sherlock redesigned the artwork. [14]

Reception and legacy

Mortification was described by Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane in his Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop in 1999: "During the early 1990s, Mortification became internationally known as Australia's foremost Christian-inspired death metal band. Christian death metal: surely a contradiction in terms; but only for the uninitiated. Mortification successfully infused the down-tuned, sledgehammer riffs and gruff vocal style usually associated with the death/thrash metal genre with positive and spiritually uplifting lyric themes." [5]

Records released after Steve Rowe's leukaemia have received poor reviews from critics, though they kept selling well. A critic wrote that "The weakest link of current Mortification are the lyrics. They are just somewhat naive and cheesy. On the old albums sinners screamed in pain in the fiery pits of hell, Satan was slaughtered; the rhetorics fit the spirit of the brutal music better. Apparently the fatherhood and going through the disease has calmed Rowe down too much, although on the early records the previous members Jayson Sherlock and Mick Carlisle wrote a lot of the lyrics." [15] The different singing style Rowe did for many years after Post Momentary Affliction was another target for criticism, being called "poor screaming". [15]

According to Australian writers Gary Garson and Peter Schultz, Mortification is the world's most successful Christian extreme metal band. Their first three albums are respected efforts of death metal. Blood World was a commercial hit and EnVision EvAngelene gained some respect for its music. During the tour for Blood World they played with Napalm Death, Sick of It All and Entombed for audiences consisting of thousands of people, and sold more merchandise than the other bands in the venues. [8]

In Raised by Wolves, author John J. Thompson pointed out that upon forming Mortification, Rowe "suddenly had one of the most credible Christian death metal bands in the world on his hands." Thompson defined Mortification as "one of the heaviest bands ever to hit the Christian scene" and described its albums as "a blatantly evangelistic work of shredding death metal." [16]

Discussing the social aspects of the extreme metal scene, author Keith Kahn-Harris wrote that overt Christian bands like Mortification are often "strongly criticized if their commitment to music is perceived to be subordinate to their commitment to politics." Kahn-Harris observed that "with a very few exceptions, overt Christian bands tend to be confined to their own, largely autonomous scenes." But he acknowledges that "music and scene can never be detached from flows of power and capital and hence a non-political scene is an impossibility. [...] The scene is enmeshed in relations of power and capital, despite its relative autonomy as a field." [17]

Band members

Current members

Former members

Touring musicians

Session musicians

Timeline

Mortification (band)

Discography

Mortification discography
Studio albums14
EPs3
Live albums6
Compilation albums3
Demo albums1
Box sets1
Studio albums
Demo albums
EPs
Live albums
Compilation albums
Box sets
Bootlegs
Other appearances

Scrolls of the Megilloth – Mortification (previously unreleased)

Track 7- An interview with Mortification
Track 8- Distarnish Priest
Track 9- Your Life
Track 10- J.G.S.H.
Track 11- Love Song
Track 12- A Short Interview with Steve Rowe on the History of Mortification
Videos

Related Research Articles

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, featuring double kick and blast beat techniques; minor keys or atonality; abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes; and chromatic chord progressions. The lyrical themes of death metal may include slasher film-style violence, political conflict, religion, nature, philosophy, true crime and science fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forbidden (band)</span> American thrash metal band

Forbidden is an American thrash metal band from the San Francisco Bay Area, California. They formed in 1985 as Forbidden Evil, but would change their name in 1987. Since their formation, Forbidden have broken up and reformed twice with numerous line-up changes. After breaking up for the first time in 1997, Forbidden reunited once again in 2007, went into an indefinite hiatus in 2012, but reformed in 2023. The current line-up of the band is Norman Skinner (vocals), Craig Locicero (guitar), Matt Camacho (bass), and Chris Kontos (drums).

Extol is an extreme metal band from Bekkestua, Norway that was formed in 1993. The band is known for playing a variety of different styles of metal which include progressive metal, death metal, black metal and thrash metal.

Paramaecium was an Australian death/doom metal band formed in 1991. There is use of instrumentation like flutes, cellos and violins on some albums. Paramaecium is one of the few doom metal bands that focus on Christian lyrical themes and Christian concepts. According to Doom-metal.com, "what sets Paramaecium apart from other bands in the doom metal scene, is the fact that they are the only Christian death/doom band that made it to the top of the genre."

Solitude Aeturnus is an American epic doom metal band from Arlington, Texas. Founded by John Perez in early 1987, the original lineup consisted of Perez on guitar, vocalist Kristoff (Christopher) Gabehart, guitarist Tom Martinez, drummer Brad Kane, and Chris Hardin on bass. The name Solitude was chosen to pay homage to the bands Black Sabbath and Candlemass, both of whom had songs bearing the name "Solitude". Solitude Aeturnus released their debut album "Into the Depths of Sorrow" in 1991 with John Perez and Edgar Rivera on guitars, Robert Lowe on vocals, Lyle Steadham on bass and John Covington on drums. Solitude Aeturnus played with Candlemass in Texas in 1991. Their second and most progressive album, "Beyond the Crimson Horizon", was released in 1992. "Through the Darkest Hour", the band's landmark album, was released in 1994. "Downfall", the band's fourth studio album, was released in 1996. "Adagio", released two years later in 1998, featured Steve Moseley on bass, who replaced Lyle Steadham. Lyle Steadham was the main lyricist of the band until then. The band's final album, "Alone", was released in 2006 with a different lineup, as James Martin took over bass duties, Steve Moseley moved to lead guitar replacing Edgar Rivera, and Steve Nichols replaced John Covington on drums. Following a few concerts in Europe, Solitude Aeturnus went into a long hiatus as singer Robert Lowe took over singing duties in Candlemass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horde (band)</span> Australian unblack metal group

Horde is an unblack metal solo project of Australian musician Jayson Sherlock, formerly of Mortification and Paramaecium. In 1994, the only studio album, Hellig Usvart, was released on Nuclear Blast Records. With a session line-up, Horde played live in 2006 in Norway and in 2010 in Finland and Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hobbs' Angel of Death</span> Australian thrash metal band

Hobbs' Angel of Death was an Australian thrash metal band that began in 1987 in Melbourne, and are one of the first Australian groups to perform in that genre. They released two studio albums, Hobbs' Angel of Death (1988) and Inheritance (1995) before disbanding in 1996. They reformed in 2002 and released a compilation album, Hobbs' Satan's Crusade (2003), and a third album Heaven Bled (2016).

Armoured Angel were an Australian thrash and death metal band from Canberra, which formed in 1982 as Metal Asylum. The band's founding mainstay, Glen "Lucy" Luck provided bass guitar. They pushed the musical boundaries of the local thrash metal scene and were pioneers of Australian death metal. The group also helped establish Australia's metal festival, Metal for the Brain in 1991. They issued a studio album, Angel of the Sixth Order, in July 1999 before disbanding soon after.

<i>Break the Curse</i> 1990 demo album by Mortification

Break the Curse is a 1990 demo album by the Australian Christian death metal band Mortification. It was re-released in 1994 as Break the Curse 1990. The album focuses on Mortification's thrash metal style rather than their later death metal. Several of the album's songs were re-recorded for other Mortification albums. It was re-released on Rowe Productions in 2001 with updated artwork, an updated album booklet, and remastered audio. The album was re-released on Roxx Records as Break the Curse 1990–2010: 20th Anniversary Gold Edition in 2010 as a two-disc set with a CD containing bonus tracks and a DVD containing footage from Mortification's first crossover concert on 15 June 1990 at Harvest Centre in Melbourne, Australia, and later on vinyl as Break the Curse 1990: 25th Anniversary in July 2015. In 2022, the album was re-released as Break the Curse on Soundmass with remastered audio and a second disc containing the audio from the 2010 DVD.

<i>Mortification</i> (album) 1991 studio album by Mortification

Mortification is the debut studio album by Australian Christian death metal band Mortification. It was released on 12 October 1991. This album leans more towards death metal than the band's demo album Break the Curse, but retains thrash metal elements. Five songs from the demo album were re-recorded for Mortification. In 2002, The Billboard Guide to Contemporary Christian Music described the album's sound as "punk-meets-metal grind-core". A bundle containing Mortification and Scrolls of the Megilloth was released on KMG Records in 1998 and on Rowe Productions in 2015, with the latter being exclusively on cassette. Soundmass Records re-released the album with five bonus tracks in 2020, and again in 2022 with new remastering and nine bonus tracks recorded at Q.U.T. Campus Club in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on 27 September 1991.

<i>Scrolls of the Megilloth</i> 1992 studio album by Mortification

Scrolls of the Megilloth is the second studio album by Australian Christian death metal band Mortification. It was released on 28 August 1992. The band's most famous release, this album is full-on death metal, with the thrash metal roots barely showing, and possibly their most extreme album to date. According to AllMusic, the album "garnered the band some attention from the heavy metal underground" and contains "some of the most frightening vocals ever recorded." In 2010, HM Magazine ranked Scrolls of the Megilloth number 17 on the Top 100 Christian Metal Albums of All Time list with Van Pelt stating that "Though the band has been living it down ever since, this album raised the standard of Christian grindcore to almost unattainable levels."

<i>Post Momentary Affliction</i> 1993 studio album by Mortification

Post Momentary Affliction is the third studio album by Australian Christian death metal band Mortification, released in 1993. The album's sound has Mortification returning to their thrash metal roots, but with death metal elements still showing. It contains an alternate recording of the track "Impulsation" from the band's Break the Curse demo album. Post Momentary Affliction was bundled with Mortification's 1992 album Scrolls of the Megilloth on Nuclear Blast and included "Butchered Mutilation" as a bonus track, releasing on 18 November 1996. In 2008, a reissue was released by Metal Mind Productions, which also included "Butchered Mutilation" and three live tracks. Soundmass released reissues in 2020 and 2022, with the former having three live tracks and the latter having new remastering and two discs, with the second CD containing fifteen live tracks1; both reissues include "Butchered Mutilation". In 2010, HM Magazine ranked Post Momentary Affliction No. 70 on the Top 100 Christian metal albums of all-time list.

<i>Blood World</i> 1994 studio album by Mortification

Blood World is the fourth studio album by Australian Christian death metal band Mortification, released in 1994. The songs "Your Life", "J.G.S.H." and "Love Song" were included on the Tourniquet/Mortification Collector's Edition CD Single in 1994; the disc also contained a segment discussing Mortification's history, from the video release of Live Planetarium, and material from American Christian metal band Tourniquet's album Vanishing Lessons. Blood World was a commercial hit and the band's most successful album.

<i>EnVision EvAngelene</i> 1996 studio album by Mortification

EnVision EvAngelene is the sixth studio album by the Australian Christian metal band Mortification, released on 23 April 1996. Musically, this album continued the band's shift away from death metal, instead combining power metal, grindcore, and punk.

<i>Hellig Usvart</i> Christian Unblack Metal album

Hellig Usvart is the debut studio album by Australian unblack metal band Horde, released on Nuclear Blast Records in 1994. Upon its release, the album created a controversy among many black metal fans; death threats were sent to Nuclear Blast demanding the label to drop the album from its catalogue because the album contains Christian, anti-satanic lyrics, counteracting the usual black metal thematics at the time. As a result of the strong lyrical contradiction, the album was thought to be a parody of the Norwegian black metal movement by magazines such as Morgenbladet in 1995.

Stephen Andrew Rowe is an Australian musician who is the founder, vocalist and bass guitarist of the Christian death metal band Mortification, which is considered to be a pioneer in the genre. Prior to forming Mortification, he was in a traditional heavy metal-styled Christian band known as LightForce. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 1997, but made a full recovery. He is currently the owner and head of the Rowe Productions record label. In 2015, Rowe announced his retirement from Christian music. However, his career has continued, while Mortification has been inactive the members' side project, Wonrowe Vision, have remained active.

Jayson Sherlock is a Christian metal musician from Australia. He began his career in the Australian death metal band Mortification, which was considered to be a major pioneer in the genre. Sherlock was the founder of the one-man project unblack metal band Horde, in which he played every instrument. He has also been in other bands such as Paramaecium, inExordium, Altera Enigma, and Soundscape. During 2012, he was the drummer for Deliverance. He is currently the drummer for the death metal band Revulsed.

Altera Enigma is a Christian metal band formed by Melbourne, Australia-based Jason De Ron, the former guitarist and front man of Paramaecium, and Jakarta, Indonesia native Jefray Arwadi, former guitarist, vocalist, and front man of Kekal. Both of these musicians have a career that has seen them record and release nearly 20 albums between them. According to Jason De Ron, the name Altera Enigma was chosen because it represents something mysterious and unique. Kenny Cheong, a jazz fusion bassist, joined the project in 2005, and Altera Enigma's first album was released in 2006. Jayson Sherlock, a former band-mate of De Ron in Paramecium and also a former member of the band Mortification and the sole member of Horde, joined on drums in 2007. In 2009, Jeff Arwadi, having relocated from Indonesia to Canada in 2007, decided to step down from the project.

Ultimatum is an American thrash metal band from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Revulsed is an Australian death metal band that was founded in 2010. Revulsed's debut album Infernal Atrocity was featured on No Clean Singing and Trevor Strnad of the Black Dahlia Murder's best albums of 2015 lists.

References

General
Specific
  1. ↑ Strother, Eric (2013). Unlocking the Paradox of Christian Metal Music (PDF). University of Kentucky. p. 30.
  2. 1 2 Garson, Gary (interviewer); Schultz, Peter (interviewer); Grym, J. (translator); Ollila, Mape (additional notes) (2007). "Maailman Metalli: Australia" [Metal World: Australia]. Imperiumi.Net (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 August 2011.{{cite web}}: |first1= has generic name (help) Google translation back to English is available here .
  3. 1 2 "Press Release by Nuclear Blast for Triumph of Mercy". Nuclear Blast Records. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2011. Quoted on German Mortification fansite: Mortification.de
  4. ↑ Eleven years on the last verse. Vårt Land. 12 November 2007
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 McFarlane, 'Mortification' entry. Archived from the original on 13 August 2004. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  6. ↑ Wheat, Brad. "Mortification interview". Christian Xtreme. Archived from the original on 22 June 2006. Retrieved 18 August 2011. Full passage from King James Bible is "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." (Romans 8:13)
  7. 1 2 3 Dombek, Kirk. "Mortification". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Mortification". Australian Music Online (AMO). Australia Council for the Arts (Government of Australia). Archived from the original on 10 August 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  9. ↑ MORTIFICATION: Nine Titles To Be Reissued Archived 21 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine . Blabbermouth.net.
  10. ↑ MORTIFICATION To Release New Album In 2009, 20th-Anniversary CD In 2010 Archived 21 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine Blabbermouth.net
  11. ↑ "MORTIFICATION To Record New Demo". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  12. ↑ "Mortification: New album title revealed". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  13. ↑ A Message from Steve Rowe. The Metal Resource. 5 June 2009.
  14. ↑ "Steve Rowe of Mortifcation Talks Metal with the Mofos". Metal Mofos. 19 July 2016. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  15. 1 2 Ryhanen, Pekka. Mortification Brain Cleaner. Imperiumi.net
  16. ↑ Thompson, John J. (2000). Raised by Wolves: The Story of Christian Rock & Roll . ECW Press. p.  163. ISBN   1-55022-421-2.
  17. ↑ Kahn-Harris, Keith (2007). Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge. Berg Publishers. p. 155. ISBN   978-1-84520-399-3.
  18. ↑ "Mortification Drummer Loses Battle". The Metal Onslaught. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.