Mortualia:Blood Of The Hermit(2010)

Today was the perfect day to revisit this record and review it. A severe thunderstorm was pounding my surroundings into submission while Mortualia did the same to my ears. The second album by this Finnish one man "Depressive Black Metal" act, is the closest thing to sorrow on disc, as I've ever heard. Mastermind Shatraug(also of Horna) completely tops the brilliance of his self titled album a few years back. I know that I say the phrase "this isn't for everyone" a lot, but it really is applicable here. This is raw and unnerving and beautiful and desolate all at the same time, and casual Metal listeners might be thrown off by the sincerity of it all. The record consists of 5 long tracks, all of them are in the 10-12 minute range, so if you are not digging on the sound, you won't be able to make it through one of these epics. Like a Metal equivalent to Joy Division, or Pornography-era Cure, not in sound, but in the depressive nature of the music, and it's ability to project those feelings onto the listener. Not one of the tracks are bad, and this is definitely a record that you want to listen to as a whole, and not spilt up on an Ipod or shuffle player. I was thinking that it might be an experience to listen to this record while watching an old Bergman film without the sound, the black and white starkness of his films would match beautifully with this depressive symphony. It also sports one of the most "beautiful" record covers I've ever seen in Metal. As always, this isn't for everyone, but for those lost souls who can revel in such negativity, I can't recommend this enough.