Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby

In Australia, something dark and sinister was stirring. Out of the ashes of the classic metal band, Lightforce, came Mortification. In 1990 they were a raw thrash metal band, but they would go on to unleash the first Christian death metal album, the self-titled 'Mortification' in 1991. It was far more brutal than any other Christian releases at the time. They signed a deal with Nuclear Blast Records who specialised in death metal and released their 1992 follow-up 'Scrolls Of The Megilloth' which was a masterpiece of fast death metal with some doom influences. It was a mark of a great band that they were highly regarded in the whole of death metal scene at that time and 'Scrolls. . .' is still considered to belong to the elite albums of that scene. The band was composed of Steve Rowe (bass and vocals), Cameron Hall (guitar) and Jayson Sherlock (drums). After the success of 'Scrolls. . .', Nuclear Blast decided to re-release 'Break The Curse' in 1994 as Mortification were gaining in popularity. It was also re-released in 2001 by Rowe Productions. It is now back again in 2010 as a completely re-mastered CD and DVD set on Roxx Productions. Not only do you get a truck load of rare bonus tracks and an interview with Steve, but also the first ever Morty concert, completely re-mastered and restored on DVD from Melbourne, Australia on 15 June 1990. The cover booklet does not contain the lyrics, instead it has a band history Memories Of 20 Years of Mortification written by Steve Rowe. A fascinating piece of Christian metal history.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.