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classic Mortiis - 85%
This is my favorite Mortiis album. I especially like the first of the two songs. This needs no introduction for most knowledgeable metal heads, but for those who don’t know about Mortiis:
This is not metal. He played bass for Norwegian black metal legend Emperor. Mortiis left Emperor before they recorded their first full length album, and he began making keyboard music. He later changed his style to industrial metal, but this album is the keyboard stuff.
This album, like Mortiis’ other early albums, is very relaxing, and very repetitive. The music alternates between sorrowful melodies and majestic melodies. The album title means something like King of an Unknown Dimension.
The first song is my favorite Mortiis song. It starts with a majestic intro, played on what sounds like deep bells (keyboard setting that is). Then the main theme fades in. This is a fantastic sorrowful melody. It evokes a sense a sense of longing. It might put the listener in a contemplative or trancelike state. This is one of Mortiis’ best melodies. It’s repeated several times, then the intro melody comes back. It fades out and the beautiful main theme comes back. The king looks out over his vast realm and contemplates the fate of his people. Some background harmonies add in. It sounds like a choir. Then it transitions into a regal sounding melody and the song takes on a majestic feel.
Suddenly a troll appears. Seriously, there is a video for this song. It just shows all these different views of a castle while the above mentioned parts are playing. Then Mortiis himself shows up with the abrupt entrance of some warning notes.
The song fades out, and a new part comes in. This has a darker and industrial feel to it. It’s like the orcs working underground with molten metal. It has a kind of slow march beat.
After a while of that, the beautiful parts come back for a while. There is also a part with some spoken words. It’s in Norwegian and sounds like it has effects on the voice.
The next song starts with its main theme, which sounds like it could be a folk melody (not bouncy though). It’s slow and pretty, kind of sad sounding. There are a few transitions, a more up-beat part in the middle, and several returns to the main theme. I won’t try to describe what each part sounds like. I’ll just say that it is a good song, but I don’t like it as much as the first.
It’s hard to describe this music in detail. It’s beautiful, relaxing, and repetitive. I recommend this and also Wongraven as a change of pace for fans of viking or pagan metal and/or Norwegian black metal like Emperor, etc.
