Mortuus Rex – ‘In The Cult Of The Mad God’

I have one word to describe this album. Impressive. This is a one-man Doom metal project that is heavy and sinister from start to finish. The album consists of a combination of traditional doom metal riffs, fast guitar solos, clean vocals, screeching and ominous lyrics. This is an extremely well-produced album with the electric guitars sounding heavy and gritty but still very clear, the bass guitar isn’t muddy and sits nicely in the mix, the drums sound tight and don’t overpower anything in the mix and the vocals sit nicely among the instruments giving the album a very polished and sophisticated sound.

The album opens with ‘Echoes From The Edge Of The Void’ a fast-paced riff filled tune very reminiscent of Black Sabbath. This song is a great opening track because it really sets the tone for the rest of the album, it’s dark and brooding with a brilliant guitar solo to boot. From here onwards it’s a nonstop onslaught of heaviness. The next tracks which follow are ‘Forest Of Corpses’ and ‘Premature Burial’. These tracks hit hard with the bass guitar and guitars sounding absolutely monstrous. The vocals on these tracks remind me of Danzig with their transition from soft menacing singing to shouted vocals. The next track is ‘In The Cult Of The Mad God’ the title track of the album. This is a 7 minute epic with the intro riff being one of the crunchiest on the album. This is also one of the most melodic in terms of guitar solos as it contains multiple all of which sound beautiful. This albums shreds, no doubt about it. The next track ‘Aftermath’ an instrumental track, provides a nice change of pace to the album with its lovely acoustic guitar performances and softer tone. The following track ‘Dead Will Rise’ is a very bluesy song with an 80s sound and has a solid groove throughout coming from the guitars, bass and drums while the vocals get a chance to shine on the chorus. The album ends with ‘Guilty as Sin’ a very threatening yet catchy song. The drums are particularly interesting on this song with some very cool fills and grooves taking centre stage during the verses. My favourite tracks on the album are ‘Echoes From The Edge Of The Void’ and ‘Aftermath’.

Overall, I really enjoyed listening to this album. All 7 tracks fit the album nicely and none of them fell like filler. The choruses and riffs will get stuck in your head and the solos will leave in awe. The album is Dripping with atmosphere and rich imagery. One thing’s for sure, Steve Waddel has crafted a very theatrical and exciting album which is in my opinion exactly what doom metal should be. I would definitely recommend this album.
NR