Three Way Dissection

Mordicus were a Finnish band who never could seem to settle on one record label. I don't know if they continually got ripped off or if they simply wanted a better deal, but Skin Drill, Wild Rags and Thrash Records all released material from them in a short period of time. That's three labels in less than three years! "Three Way Dissection" was the first of these releases in the form of a 7". As pointed out on the page, Skin Drill Records was just another label of Steve O'Bannon and basically the same thing as Seraphic Decay Records (both S.D.R.).

But back to the 7"... The music that Mordicus offer here is quite different from their "Wrathorn" and "Dances from Left" material. It's much more grindcore influenced, and actually very similar to what fellow countrymen Xysma were doing at the time (and by similar I mean bordering on rip-off). Though, the one thing that separates Mordicus is their frequent use of melodic sections within their songs. Xysma only briefly experimented with such melody and atmosphere on their "Fata Morgana" EP, while Mordicus like to do it very often and implement it into each of the three songs on this release. The other element that makes them stand out from Turku's gore maniacs is the production. If you're familiar with "Above the Mind of Morbidity" then you'll know how minimal the production is on that vinyl. "Three Way Dissection" is much more balanced sound-wise, and you can easily make out each and every instrument.

The three songs here are mostly played at a comfortable mid tempo, with the exception of the fast grind attacks. "Execrated to Live" is easily the most epic-sounding piece on the EP. There's a refreshing mellow interlude midway through the song that includes keyboards and more traditional heavy metal guitar harmonies. In a way, it's reminiscent of the type of music that Greek bands like Rotting Christ and Varathron were playing in the early 1990's. "Pathogenic Gash Obstruction" is more chunky and fast-paced (total Xysma). The drummer uses some half-blast beats on this song that sound very heavy with the catchy guitar riffs. The music gets melodic again towards the end of the song, but this time it's not nearly as refined as on the previous track. "Preserved Fomenting" is the final piece and this one is even more typical of the grindcore song structure. It's the shortest song on the 7", and remains at a steady fast pace pretty much all the way through. The middle section has more (brief) keyboard effects that actually go surprisingly well with the rest of the music.

I don't know if this would appeal much to fans of their "Dances from Left" album; but if you're into early material from Carcass, Xysma and Impetigo and don't mind a bit of melody then you will worship this vinyl.