Feature: Defending the Underdog – Mortification’s Blood World

Defending the Underdog – Mortification’s Blood World

Mortification, sadly, are one of those bands who seemingly fell into the same trap as bands like Metallica and In Flames: releasing a string of classics, the band shifted style, upset a ton of people while gaining new fans, and never recovered from it. But I have found myself, more and more over the years, enjoying a vast majority of Mortification’s output for what it is. There’s more to the band than Scrolls of the Megilloth, after all. But over time, I’ve found that one record has grown on me more than any other in their catalogue, and that one is Blood World. 

Routinely the subject of much criticism, Mortification’s fourth studio album was, in the minds of many, the point where the band left death metal (and much of their audience) behind. Sure, Post-Momentary Affliction was already showing signs of the band going in a new direction with their sound, but it still remained a death metal record through and through, despite its progressive tangents. But Blood World immediately established itself as something very, very different. With drummer Jayson Sherlock having left to pursue more extreme avenues of metal, the more abrasive elements in the band’s music suddenly seemed to take a back seat. Murmurings about the band infusing hardcore into their sound with this record abound, and much of the blame always seems to fall on the band’s ludicrously-underrated drummer, Phil Gibson. And who can forget the vocals? Steve Rowe’s heart-stopping roar retreated into the background, replaced by his controversial new style of strained shouts that were first heard on PMA. It all seems pretty negative, at least on the surface, especially if you were like me and fell in love with the death metal side of the band. And yet, it’s the album I find in my player the most, the one I keep coming back to. Here, I’d like to offer a different perspective on what I feel to be Mortification’s most underrated album.

To be sure, Blood World dialled the death metal back, and quite a bit, too. Instead, Rowe and company focused in much more on thrash and its 90’s cousin groove metal more (and, according to some listeners, an increased hardcore influence). The second “Clan of the Light” begins, you know you’re in for a different album than anything they’d done prior. But I think it’s entirely untrue to say that the death metal sound is gone on this album. In fact, it’s much heavier than you might think. While there are some lighter moments – the Metallica-esque vibe of “Your Life” and the anthemic title track, for example – Blood World is still a death metal record, just softened and tempered a bit in order to showcase the fact that the band was not one to be pigeonholed. Rest easy – those famous Rowe roars are still here. And though the guitars sound lighter, I have to hand it to Phil Gibson’s drum work, which comes off like a frantic version of Paul Mazurkiewicz of Cannibal Corpse.

The real highlight for me is actually the doomier side of death metal the band explores here in such tracks as “Symbiosis” and “Dark Allusions.” There’s a melancholic feel to “Symbiosis” that makes it my favourite track on the record, something I hadn’t heard the band do before. “Monks of the High Lord,” with its fantastic concept of “grinding silence,” is one of the grooviest death metal tracks the band has ever done. And if the slower stuff doesn’t suit you, “Starlight” and its blistering death/thrash just might. In keeping with seeming tradition, Mortification also explores some shorter songs too, like the crowd favourite “J.G.S.H.” with its grindcore-like approach.

Certainly, the album isn’t without its faults. “Live By the Sword,” with its punchy early Cannibal Corpse-esque drumming, comes off a little corny to me; I mean, a song listing off Bible translations? It’s a fun track, but definitely an odd way to tackle the notion of reading the Scriptures regularly. And “Love Song” is just one of those tracks that doesn’t grab me – it’s just kind of there. But hey, every album has its weaker moments.

The bottom line is that Blood World remains an underrated record from one of Christian metal’s greatest acts. There’s something for everyone on here, and despite the shift to a more shouted vocal style, the death metal core is still intact, just approached with a greater sense of dynamism and variety. And for all the stink made over the supposed hardcore influences, I must be missing it all, as I don’t hear a thing on here that sounds like hardcore to me.

Far from being a sell-out record or an extreme shift in style, it seems like a logical procession from a band that obviously didn’t want to be locked into a certain sound but wanted to expand.   It thrashes, it grooves, and it rumbles, and though there are more focused records out there by the band, it remains in my mind a very memorable record that is sadly overshadowed by some of their more extreme efforts. Still, it’s the one that I listen to the most, and I think that really speaks volumes. 

About Author

Jason McLaren

I’m an Orthodox Christian, have a Master’s Degree in Theological Studies, and have been a metal fan for around a quarter of a century. I’ve never been much of a metal traditionalist, so you won’t normally find me spinning Megadeth albums (as good as they might be). Black, death, goth, grind – that’s my thing. I love to scour the furthest reaches of the underground and bring back the gems I find to show others – bit of a show and tell guy. When I’m not blasting the tunes, I love reading works of a theological/spiritual nature, as well as playing a rousing game of chess.

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