The Endtime Prophecy

Now this one is pretty damn cool. Mortalicum are a Swedish act who plays a style of Doom Metal laced with a massive dose of hard rocking Heavy Metal. It’s clear the band bow down at the altar of Black Sabbath, with the guitarist in particular having studied the Tony Iommi handbook cover to cover, however the band also can draw comparisons to acts as diverse as Candlemass, Terra Firma and I sometimes find myself reminded of occult acts such as Blood Ceremony or The Devil's Blood.

The first thing that struck me on The Endtime Prophecy was the massive, fuzzy guitar tone. I’d say it was definitely equal parts traditional Doom and Stoner Doom. The second thing that struck me was how bloody good the singer is. Henrik Högl is a true talent, with excellent delivery and tone. He absolutely owns this album, although never at the expense of the rest of the band. Speaking of which, there are some mega tasty riffs to chow down on here, they take a lot from the 70’s greats and they’re almost always fun, and bouncy. The bass slaps a thick low end right across said riffs, and are backed up via a solid drum battery.

I feel that the appeal in The Endtime Prophecy” lies further to the side of traditional Heavy Metal, and I’d definitely say mileage could well vary for the more wizened doomster. The singing style coupled with the nature of the riffs detracts from dark atmosphere often associated with Doom Metal, and whilst some of the lyrical themes might be dark, it doesn’t bleed through the music. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the music contained is enjoyable - and there’s undoubted Sabbithism’s across the board – I just feel if the album bled a darker atmosphere it could have been a touch better.

For the most part Mortalicum have delivered a quality sophomore album, and I’m finding it difficult to level much in the way of complaints. If you like good old fashioned Heavy Metal with a splattering of Doom then I’d suggest you pick up The Endtime Prophecy. With stupendous numbers such as “Devil’s Hand”, “Ballad of a Sorrowful Man” (yeah, that’s right I’m naming a ballad as a highlight) and the giant riff buffet served up in “Embracing Our Doom” you can’t really go wrong. Plenty of cross-over appeal here, a solid release. Recommended!

Originally written for http://www.metal-observer.com