Mortal Blood is a doom metal band from Baltimore, Maryland. “Harbingers of Chaos,” is their full-length debut album; they have also released two EPs. It’s actually a one-man project, the mastermind behind it, Dan Krell, writing, performing, and even producing/mastering the entire album.
Mortal Blood’s brand of doom contains a lot of different elements, including Gothic, death, and black metal. It’s an interesting concept because even though there isn’t a shortage of band’s playing these styles, “Harbingers of Chaos” sounds like a unique experience. There is no doubt the album definitely has an apocalyptic atmosphere to it, the audio version of the cover art.
The ebb and flow of the music is very tight, grasping on certain concepts with full attention to detail before moving on to a different path. The first song, “Incantations of the Damned,” is a prime example of which I speak. This particular song is all about the build up, with heavy but sparse textures moving across the expansive field of its structure. The vocals, which are insanely abrasive, really do seem like some sort of command or creation of a spell. The drums are very atmospheric, which is always a hard thing to pull off, and create a ton of trepidation.
“Requiem Of Gothic Doom,” takes a different, more immediate approach. The guitars are larger, filling up the liminal space with electric fire. The vocals go from extreme to filtered cleans, adding a deranged vibe to the song. The middle part is massive, with blackened growls/screams, clean chants, and guitars/bass that generate a murky wall of sound.
The methodical buildup of these two songs is indicative of the album as a whole; each song is like a new chapter in the book of fear, another step towards insurmountable darkness. The use of guitar to create atmosphere and textures instead of more traditional riffs is very clever and something I’m surprised more doom bands don’t go for. It’s certainly effective and more than a little harrowing.
“The Fallen,” is the album at its most effective and my favorite song on the album. I just love the ominous, sparse tones in the beginning. The pounding drums and sweltering guitar are intense but less in an aggressive way, more into a “bury themselves into your psyche to make you go insane” type of way. Once again, the vocals are abrasive but absolutely commanding. He doesn’t constantly bark them out, instead choosing the opportune moment to use them…and it’s always unnerving. Seriously, I haven't heard a vocal performance this freighting in sometime, in doom or otherwise.
Thankfully, the album loses none of its potency as it moves along to another level of suffocating hell. “Persona Non Grata,” is a deep track that reaches into the furthest realms of darkness, pulling along with it all the grit and grime of the soul. My favorite park is after the halfway mark, with the bass drum pulsing as the guitar descends down. The ending is pure violence—death growls, blackened screams, deep chanting, wailing guitar and the oppressive waters churned by the bass and drums.
The title track opens with a ominous guitar tone, one of the best on the album. Clean vocals litter the apocalyptic landscape as the drums ramp up the tension until the blackened cut through, razor sharp and as dangerous as the music. The drums have a sort of tribalistic thump to them that, mixed with the fantastic vocals, creates an urgent sound that carries with it an arcane and mysterious atmosphere.
Another favorite song on the album for me is “Horde of the Blackened Sun.” Goddamn, what a song! The vocals are really up front in the mix, threatening to burst out and eviscerate the real world. The music is slow and melodic, but a dark melody that brings with it only the promise of a future undone—there is no hope to be found here. The highlight of the song for me just after the halfway park with this really out there, dismal melody from the guitar. It sounds like it could break at any minute, the insane world in which it thrives finally collapsing under its own weight. The album as a whole carries that vibe as well. The entire 40 minute run time is absolutely maddening—listening to this album on headphones is truly an experience!
The final song, “The Outcast,” sounds like the longing for a distant dream that will never happen. There just isn’t enough vision, enough hope, for fruition of better things. The distorted clean vocals are almost alien and fit the landscape of the music perfectly. In a way this sort of an outro to the rest of the album, the aftermath of all that went down. The only thing more dangerous than the apocalypse is the post-apocalypse—-the song really nails that sentiment.
Mortal Blood’s “Harbingers of Chaos” is a fantastic album that is as interesting and complicated as it is unnerving and despotic. It certainly has an unique sound and approach to doom metal, one that I found arresting and engaging. Definitely a highlight as 2024 moves into the next half.
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