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