Label: Metal Renaissance
Review by Vard Aman
Mortalium formed in Kharkiv in Ukraine in 2009 and play a variety of Gothic Doom Metal. Gothic Doom Metal is a subgenre that has been steadily growing in both popularity and quality. But Mortalium are more than just Gothic Doom Metal; there is a lot more going on in their music than just that, for example, I can hear a very definite Classic Doom Metal (Traditional / Epic Doom) in many places, but done with a Gothic touch. They are also very versatile in their songwriting, so there is a lot of variety between their songs; “Frozen Night” is almost pure Gothic Rock, while “Prophet” has an almost carnivalesque feel about it; but most of the time their music and sound is an epic crucible of powerful doom-laden darkness. In short, they have fused elements of different Doom Metal styles into one, and one that is unmistakably their own. “A Gap Between Birth and Death” will therefore appeal to a lot of people outside of that specific subgenre, and also anyone who is into something rather dark, but a little different.
Fronting and enhancing Mortalium unique brand of Gothic Doom is vocalist and guitarist, Maria Nosik, whose voice is the key defining feature of the overall sound. When Maria sings, you know you’re listening to Mortalium. Her voice lends well to the Traditional Doom side of things (in fact, is mostly responsible for it I’d say – Ozzy-esque in places) and to the Gothic side of things; so she is versatile, but versatile in a subtle but unmistakable way. And she pulls off a good anguish-filled semi-spoken piece as well. I like the tonal qualities of the guitar and bass throughout this album as well, they are never overbearing but when the times comes for some heavy crunch, they come to the forefront with a lot of power. It takes a lot to get everything just right in a mix and Mortalium seem to have pulled it off; it’s not raw, it’s not overproduced, but somewhere in between, with just enough of both. It must have been tempting in the studio to give it a tiny little bit more of this or just a little more of that, as it always is, but I’m glad they resisted.
This is definitely and album for every Metal fan’s collection. And don’t forget to check out the video for “Lullaby” as well, because, like their music, they do something really interesting and slightly different.
Rating – 87/100
Tracklist
- When I Decide to Die
- Frozen Night
- Perfect Shelter
- Discrepancy
- Funeral of All Hopes
- Prophet
- Unaccepted
- Life Suddenly Ends
- Lullaby
- My Stillborn Child
Line Up
- Maria Nosik – Vocals & Guitars
- Yaroslav Badradinov – Keyboards & Vocals
- Vadim Fesenko – Guitars
- Sergey Yukhno – Bass
- Daniil Gayvoronskiy – Drums