Mortals
Cursed To See The Future

August 2014
Released: July, Relapse Records
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Metal-Rules.com UK Team

Anyone who thinks women cannot master the talents and skills required to create the most evil, brutal and technical forms of extreme metal should shy away into a hole and rot for eternity. That was how I felt after hearing the mind-blowing awesomeness of all female outfit Mortals’ second album: CURSED TO SEE THE FUTURE.



The vocals from Lesley Wolf and Elizabeth Cline certainly reminded me of Scottish female fronted group Cerebral Bore, but the nihilistic anguish of Mortals certainly goes to show how metal is no longer a ‘boys’ club’. Opening track ‘View From a Tower’ has a droning, thrash metal inspired opening and descends into a hypnotic blend of good sludge metal drums and tremolo infused guitars. By the end of the track I was thinking this is what you’d get if you put Mayhem and The Melvins in the same room.



However. ‘Epochryphal Gloom’ and ‘The Summoning’ deepens the band’s themes of anger and blind hate towards humanity with the angriest vocals I’ve heard in a while. The bleakness of life and the omnipotent presence of war and suffering are things the band attack in the most brutal way possible. Also, the excellent pacing and mix of guitar solos on ‘The Summoning’ give the album a progressive feel that will grab your attention and send you on a surreal dream where you can get lost in some of the most hypnotic arrangements of drums and strings.



The best times to listen to an album like this is either when stoned or reading occult literature. There is something here that will please fans of doom and sludge metal, inspired by many nights of debauchery, or satanic black metallers obsessed with Crowley or Lovecraft. Mortals have blended together two very different genres of metal and have come back with some of the angriest and most spiritual sounding pieces of metal I’ve heard all year. What’s even more impressive is the songs are not driven by the verse and chorus arrangement, which makes it all the more surreal.



If you’re a keen lover of nihilistic black and sludge metal or someone looking for a surrealist fix, or if you’re someone looking for an excellent example of brutal female metal, you’ve got to check out Mortals. This album certainly told me this band would be around for many years to come.



Review by Demitri Levantis