Chilean death metal band Mortify release their second full-length album, Fragments At The Edge Of Sorrow.

If you type Mortify into the search bar at The Metal Archives you will get a list of twelve bands. You are looking for the one from Concepción, Chile. Formed in 2013, they have a demo, an EP, and a previous long-player, Mortuary Remains (2017), under their belts. The new album delivers on the notched-up expectations created by their previous work. The band is Alonso Villar (drums), Benjamín Araneda (guitar), Cristian Fuentes (guitar, vocals), and Diego Gonzalez (bass).

There are twelve tracks on the new record, including a couple of filaments. As a concept, “Beneath The Emptiness” has catastrophic implications, and so it is a good way to start off. Actualized as it is in Mortify’s song, the depth and reach of the possibilities are realized. The croaking vocals and syncopated percussion blend in seamlessly with the black magical guitar intertwists. It plays directly into the hands of the following track, “In The Amorphous Path,” which is pure villainy. The dark musical rapture here chokes the life from any tentative pulse that might have hitherto remained. Do not be fooled by the lyrical passages – there is no full and true escape.

Short pieces like “Fragments” can even tip you over. It seems serene but just past halfway through, something goes awry and you start to wonder what you are hearing – or more directly: what does what you’re hearing mean. You can think about it deeply or shallowly and you’ll get a punch either way. Just a different kind of one, depending.

There are many stand-out tracks even among the general excellence of the set. “Mindless” is an instrumental piece and it is also a stone cold killer. “Contaminated Echoes” is one I still think about, with its homages to earlier metal and its rambling roughness. You should put this album in your listening queue immediately. Recommended.

Fragments At The Edge Of Sorrow is out through Chaos Records on digital and CD on Friday, March 25^th.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://chaos-records.bandcamp.com/album/fragments-at-the-edge-of-sorrow

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/MortifyDeathMetal/

Chaos Records, https://www.chaos-records.com/

© Wayne Edwards. All rights reserved.