Album Review: Mortiis – Ghosts of Europa
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Formed way back in 1993 after bassist, Håvard Ellefsen, left Their Black Metal Majesties, Emperor a year before. Adopting the name Mortiis for both the band and his alter-ego, Ellefsen set about crafting dark, dungeon-synth tunes, merging his fascination with electronics with the background in black metal.
Between 1993 and the end of the millennium, Mortiis appeared to be on creative roll, issuing six full lengths and one EP, with 1994 and 1995 being particularly productive periods. In 1999 he made his full Earache Records debut with The Stargate, but it was a couple of years later that The Smell of Rain, when moved the sound away from the earlier neoclassical and dark synthwave to a more Darkwave and electropop approach, with Håvard taking the lead vocal for the first time. Earache even stumped up for a promotional video for the single, Parasite God.
Releases slowed to a more manageable rate as albums The Grudge, Some Kind of Heroin and Perfect Defect took on a more industrial feel through grinding guitars to match the industrial programming. A hiatus followed and Mortiis returned with a sound closer to the Nineties roots of the band, harkening back to the Dungeon Synth era. Like most, Mortiis’ onward trajectory was halted by the pandemic, leaving Spirit of Rebellion from 2020 as the band’s last record.
Six years in the making and Mortiis is set to return with a new full length that takes the listener back to the days of The Smell of Rain and finds our Goblin-masked Master of Ceremonies appear to be contemplating the dichotomy of humanity’s relationship with the natural world in an ever-more technological environment.
Ghosts of Europa begins with its title-track building slowly, a female voice is heard among the easy electronics and hypnotic rhythms accompany a simple lyrical refrain. Mortiis himself arrives with a Numan-like delivery as the tune’s slow pacing masks an ominous presence. Tribes of Dystopia (Edit) is a concentrated version of this approach.
The Faith that Fades Away picks up the laconic feel, adding a doomy element to the introspection of the song. Mid-paced as it may be, it still comes with a large amount of intensity. Transcending Morpheus is a dirge of chants by a female vocalist, compared to the modernism of a computerised voice, which switches at the mid-point to something akin to Nine Inch Nails’ Tron Aires soundtrack. Compare that to the ancient hymnal and timeless sounds of Return to the Old Fields which turns back to the past and utilises bells and chants, giving it the feel of Wardruna or Heilung up to the point when modernity rears its head.
Going a bit more dynamic is the Eighties soundtrack feel of Violent Silence which, for those of us of a certain age, recreates the high-tech pulses of every US television show from about 1983 onward, offering a warning of the genericism of modern AI generated art. Tundra, Heart of Hell comes in heavy with the guitars, taking a more industrial, rocking feel, which doesn’t stray too far from the aesthetic of the rest of the record, full of hooks and earworms, it’s a combination of the cold and clinical and the lush and organic.
Closing track, Farewell Romero, is a clash between the humanist and animalism, through an ominous low hum and a Marilyn Manson vocal. References to warm cleansing summer rain seem the antidote to the complexities of the modern world, a baptism to purify the soul.
Ghosts of Europa might have limited amount of guitar, but it’s use of electronics, synths and samples make is a compelling listen. So much so that it made me realise it’s time to look back at The Smell of Rain and The Grudge for a re-evaluation.
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