Mortiis - Blood & Thunder

Ah! Vintage! Being a massive lore-hound, fantasy fiend and all round geek, Early Mortiis was always a big wet dream for me. Who else blends wonderful medieval music with Trolls, imagery, and feeling? I was, to say the least, devastated when Mortiis cast these shackles aside to release more Darkwave style music, and although it is still great stuff, it isn't the same!

So why NOW, Ten years later, am I reviewing this long forgotten Vinyl? Simple - I've never had it until now. 500 copies, obscure, and in typical Mortiis fashion, Primeval. Two otherwise unreleased tracks. Doesn't sound like much, but to the legions of fans,it's everything. Just under five minutes in length too, unfortunately.

Reminiscent in sound to Mortiis' most fantasy based side project, Fata Morgana, Blood and Thunder is the sound of Orcs and Goblins battling the forces of Light, in a vain effort to find the long lost Goblet of Ztytaotlol. Or something like that.

Blood and Thunder opens with dark drumming, and the cliché Mortiis Horn sound. Think a much darker version of the last Burzum cd, and you've got the approach dead on. Now, this was written around the time of Mortiis' creative era, in which he balanced this project with his side projects Fata Morgana, Vond, and the downright bizarre Cintecele Diavouli. Acting as a gateway between the closure of Mortiis' deal with Cold Meat Industries, and the awakening of the singing with Earache, this was released just before "Crypt of the Wizard" as a taster of the new sound of Mortiis. It does in fact mix in somewhere between "Anden Som Gjorde Oppror" and "Crypt", perfectly.

For those of you who love epic tales, beautiful flutes, and Martial build ups, if you ever see this Vinyl, please buy it. "Battles on Ice" is actually one of Mortiis' very very best songs, and easily the most epic.

I don't need to close this with a parting comment, the above tells you all you need to know and more. Dec 01 2006