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Dusted Reviews
Artist: Mord Album: Christendom Perished Label: Southern Lord Review date: Jun. 3, 2006 |
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A Polish duo of Nordra on “six- and four-string annihilation and screams,” and Necrolucas, aiding his partner on “artillery of hell; warmongering,” take the Norwegian noun for murder, “Mord,” as their moniker and waste little time making good on their name, as each “opus” on Christendom Perished is an over-the-top affair: inhumanly fast drums, shredding guitar, incessantly throbbing bass. Thankfully, the recorded carnage is of top-notch fidelity, letting the expert musicianship shine deservedly.
Mord is no stranger to Greg Anderson’s Southern Lord; having released the competent Unholy Inquisition 7” in 2004 on the imprint before going into DBX studio to completely destroy the prior effort. Not to say that the 7” was poor, but Christendom is so potent that the prior effort has no choice but to pale in comparison.
Christendom’s style is entrenched firmly in the stylistics of Sweden’s Marduk, or the later style of Norway’s Gorgoroth, typified by 1998’s Destroyer, or About How to Philosophize with a Hammer, which is to say that the whole of the tracks are a relentlessly linear, blasting affair. Nordra, whom delivers his blasphemy in his native tongue, is an interesting guitarist, showing a penchant for coupling play-it-kaput motif with shredding riffing, much like Gorgoroth’s axeman, Infernus. Percussion wise, Necrolucas shows an affinity for Mayhem’s Hellhammer, slashing and bashing – all in perfect time.
For those that couldn’t get enough of Marduk’s Plague Angel, Christendom presents a new challenge, as mid-paced moments are few and far between – a numbing approach that could benefit from a bit more nuance. For diehards only.
By Stewart Voegtlin
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View all articles by Stewart Voegtlin