Morta Skuld

Surface

(c)(p)1998 Pavement Music Inc.

Review by Neil St.Laurent

Thanks to Pavement Music for the CD

From Wisconsin, this since 1990 heavy band gives us their latest extreme offering in "Surface". From the beginning the band was garnering attention for their music and managed to quickly get a deal with Peaceville Records. As with their former albums the band plans to keep busy touring, likely again with such big names as Morbid Angel or Testament.

On first listen it is apparent that this disc is definitely not an immediate catch. Indeed the first run of the disc, the one where you typically just do general listening, only a plain "Surface" of the sound comes through. Subsequent listens start to introduce the intricacies and styles of the music. Morta Skuld is about guitar riffing; the sound packs together a variety of riffs, melodic, rhythmic, soloing, or whatever, just as long as it can be the driving force of the music. It is unfortunate that often the diversity of the guitar style comes across as an adhoc jam session; the music doesn't necessarily flow throughout the song, this may be a matter of production however.

Although the bass line does present some notable gems, for the most part it stays a strict counterpart to the very mechanical drumming (i.e. the drumming is fairly flat and usually just a methodical pounding). It would also have been a lot more enjoyable if the diversity of the guitar would have been continued to the vocals, which are as also disturbingly uninteresting at times. In the end the richness of the guitar makes the other components seem bland.

The first listen of "Surface" may have been more indicative than originally thought. While the guitar fare is definitely of value, the rest of the music is of questionable worth. Not a bad album, but there just isn't something that catches one to keep listening over and over.

Morta Skuld is:
Dave Grego - Guitar, Vocals
Jason Hellman - Bass
Kent Truckenbrod - Drums

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