Lord Mantis - Death Mask (Album Review)

Album Type : Full Length

Release date : 29/4/14

Label : Profound Lore

Death Mask, album track listing :

1). Body Choke 8:46

2). Death Mask 6:38

3). Possession Prayer 6:59

4). You Will Gag For The Fix 2:53

5). Negative Birth 7:31

6). Coil 4:16

7). Three Crosses 10:07

Bio :

Delivering some of the most bottom-dredging, soulless, nihilistic metal imaginable, built of the most slamming chords and grueling buildups and penetrated from every side with the most corrosive vocal tirades, the quartet truly lives by a code of depravity within a wealth of anti-human views. The members’ hatred for the world exists even within the unit; turmoil within the ranks of LORD MANTIS is a constant factor. The band  has culminated their contempt for humankind and some of the most horrific personal experiences over recent years into an exceptionally malevolent entity on Death Mask. Unleashing something far darker even than their prior LP’s released via Seventh Rule and Candlelight, the visceral punishment one will endure on the seven works of Death Mask is not for the weak.

The fifty-minute Death Mask was recorded with Sanford Parker (Twilight, Voivod, Eyehategod, Yob) at Chicago-based Electrical Audio and Soma Studios, also responsible for engineering both prior albums. Indian’s guitarist/vocalist Dylan O’Toole also contributed additional vocals on two of the tracks on Death Mask, adding yet another dose of nihilism to the record, which bears the warped cover art of tattooist/musician Jef Whitehead (Leviathan, Twilight).

The Band :

Charlie Fell | Bass/vocals

Bill Bumgardner | Drums

Andrew Markuszewski | Guitars/backing vocals

Ken Sorceron | Guitars

Who are Lord Mantis?

My first taste of Chicago’s Lord Mantis came in 2012 with their second full-length ‘Perverter’. The cover art alone was enough to pull me in. Anytime religion is depicted in a negative way, you can count me in. The album is so heavy, packed full of distorted and bludgeoning riffs. There is not one bad song on this record. It is one album that I thought would be extremely hard to follow up.

Once again, with the release of ‘Death Mask’, Lord Mantis find themselves amidst a shitstorm of controversy over the cover art, which as you can see above, depicts a semi-bound, tortured looking transvestite wearing what is most likely s death mask. As far as all that shit goes, I’m not going to waste any of my time or yours talking about it. Bass player/vocalist Charlie Fell has taken care of all of that business in his interview with Steel for Brains.

http://www.steelforbrains.com/post/82406647189/lord-mantis>

With that being said, what I am going to talk about are the seven tormented tracks of blackened thrash/sludge that make up the stellar ‘Death Mask’. Things get going with the thick, fuzzy guitar intro on “Body Choke,” which gives way to several tormented screams, before kicking into a deep, evil churn. The title track is monumentally heavy, and so punishing, a pace which it maintains from start to finish, never once letting you catch your breath.

“Possession Prayer” starts off with a distorted riff and vocalist/bassist Charlie Fell and guitarist/backing vocalist Andrew Markuszewski chanting, “Blood, rust, incinerate,” a phrase which is oft repeated throughout this massive display of crushing metal . The instrumental, “You Will Gag For The Fix,” which I’m assuming is a reference to sucking dick for drugs, brings things way down a couple of notches. Somber piano keys are played over a bed of apocalyptic distortion and feedback. It’s over quick.

“Negative Birth” is a lumbering slab of sludge, a downward spiral if you will, into a vast ocean of nothingness. Charlie’s vocals are so fucking powerful, it is frightening. “Coil” shows just how versatile Lord Mantis can be. The song, not as heavy as the rest of the album, has no sung vocals, just Charlie speaking through some keys and changing his voice into a robotic version of himself. It sounds really cool over the music. The closer, “Three Crosses,” is the longest song clocking in at a little over ten minutes. It is a grand, mounting masterpiece that weaves its way in and out of your speakers with waning, progressive guitar chords and deafening, powerful drum beats.   

Tortured, evil minds with bleak, dark thoughts. That is who Lord Mantis are. Charlie, Bill, Andrew and Ken are firing on all cylinders, and they follow up their last album ‘Perverter’ with an even better, more epic sounding record. So many bands fail to do this, but not Lord Mantis. They will drag you through the very bowels of hell and back several times throughout the course of ‘Death Mask’. It’s a dark and twisted journey, one that you will gladly want to make over and over again.

‘Death Mask’ is an early contender on my list for album-of-the-year.

Words by : Ken Kopija

You can get it here

For more information :

https://www.facebook.com/lordmantisofficial
http://www.lordmantis.com
http://www.profoundlorerecords.com
https://www.facebook.com/profoundlorerecords

Choice Cuts : Prong - Prove You Wrong (Epic)

Album line-up : 

Tommy Victor | Lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitars

Troy Gregory | Bass guitar, backing vocals

Ted Parsons | Drums, percussion, backing vocals

With Mark Dodson - additional vocals

Review :

Tommy Victor is a master of all he surveys. Throughout his 25+ year career, in good times and bad, he has played guitar, mixed, produced, worked with other musicians (Danzig, Ministry, Rob Zombie) and toured and recorded with his mainstay Prong. Album number three, ‘Prove You Wrong’, is a standout amongst the many great records that Prong has created. My top five would be rounded out by ‘Beg to Differ’ (#2), ‘Cleansing’ (#3), ‘Carved Into Stone’ (#4) and ‘Power of the Damager’ (#5).

Dropped at a time when the music world was about to be dominated by the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, ‘Prove You Wrong’ was 13 tracks of raucous, post-thrash, punk-tinged heaviness that stood tall amongst its grungy counterparts. The massive Tommy Victor riffage, the loose dirty bass of Troy Gregory and the echoing cannon-like drum work of Ted Parsons had the band firing on all cylinders. They were a force to be reckoned with.    

While Prong’s most commercially successful release wouldn’t come until their next album, 1994’s ‘Cleansing’, which hit number 126 on the Billboard 200, fueled by the song “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck,” ‘Prove You Wrong’ was the perfect stepping stone on the bands uphill climb towards the heavy metal spotlight it was so deserving of. No other band of the like at the time had the dirty sound that Prong was producing. Tommy’s vocals were unique in a time when most grunge singers were moaning away.  

Every song on ‘Prove You Wrong’ is great. Most of the time, an album has a song or two that makes you go, “What were they thinking?” Such is not the case here. From the opening bass plucks and snare drum of “Irrelevant Thoughts,” to the churning rhythmic riff of “No Way To Deny It,” ‘Prove You Wrong’ destroys in every way possible. My favorite tracks include “Brainwave,” “Unconditional,” “Hell If I Could,” “Torn Between” and “Prove You Wrong.”

‘Prove You Wrong’ was one of the dominant heavy albums of my middle twenties. It sounded great spinning on my turntable, or through my headphones, and most importantly, it made my car rumble and vibrate like never before. Windows down, stereo cranked up, and “Unconditional” blaring away. To me, it has stood the test of time, and it sounds just as great if not better today than it did 23 years ago.

Words & Recommendation by : Ken Kopija

Album Details

Prove You Wrong is the third album by the metal band Prong. It is their only album with Troy Gregory on bass guitar. Released: April 2, 1991

Track list :

1. Irrelevant Thoughts 02:37
2. Unconditional 04:45
3. Positively Blind 02:43
4. Prove You Wrong 03:31
5. Hell If I Could 04:00
6. Pointless 03:07
7. Contradictions 04:10
8. Torn Between 03:11
9. Brainwave 03:01
10. Territorial Rites 03:31
11. (Get A) Grip (On Yourself) 03:05
12. Shouldn't Have Bothered 02:39
13. No Way to Deny It 04:41

Music videos were made for Prove You Wrong and Unconditional.

Reissued by Steamhammer on October 28th 2008 remastered in a digipak.

For more information :

https://www.facebook.com/prongmusic