Mortal - "Wake"

Mortal - Wake

1994, Intense

1. Paradigm One

2. June First

3. Mother's Day

4. Vial

5. Speed of Sound

6. Filter

7. Oceanful

8. Serpent-Teen

9. Moons & Suns

10. Fall

11. Sold

12. God of 3 Strings

13. Nowhere Man

14. To My Darling Whipporwill

I remember reading some interviews of these guys back around this period. They were saying that they'd taken industrial as far as they could and that guys like Scott Albert (Circle of Dust) could take it further. Then we get Wake, which is not industrial at all but alt-rock...scratch that... it's Mortal doing it's best Nirvana impression. It didn't really work for me when it first came out. I remember liking "June First" and "Mother's Day" and I still like them. The rest of the songs are okay but Mortal really excells at ballads. "Speed of Sound" is an enchanting little tune that reminds me a lot of "Bleeder" from the Brow Beat comp. It's so weird because the electric songs are so forgettable but I LOVE the ballads here.

Useless Fact: "Nowhere Man" is a Beatles cover. Also, after this record the band broke up and reformed several times. Each time they said that "God told them" to break up. Uh... okay.

Mortal - "Fathom"

Mortal - Fathom

1993, Intense

1. Alive and Awake

2. Neplusultra

3. Rift

4. Jil Sent Me

5. Ex-Nihilo

6. Above and Beyond

7. (silence)

8. Rainlight

9. Bright Wings

10. XiX

11. Promulgate

12. Electrify

13. Godspeed

Just about everything about the band has improved on this disc. The vocals are cleaner and the guitars are heavier and more prominent. However, I find myself not like this one as much despite the fact that just about everyone agrees that this is their best album. I like the haunting "Rift" and the gentle ballad, "Jil Sent Me." Also... "Bright Wings" which is based off the poem "God's Grandeur" is probably my favorite track. The rest of the songs? Eh... they're alright. I do like Mark Solomon's (The Crucified) guest appearance on "Neplusultra." I don't know whether I was just going through a rough patch in my life when I got this or what, but it just doesn't really capture me like the debut did. Oh well...

Useless Fact: Track 7 is silence and is actually found at the end of track 13 as a rap "thank you" song. It's kind of stupid. I laugh when they try to make the phrase "Alive and Awake" sound cool. It's just them going, "Yeah.... The Crucified is Alive and Awake. Deliverance is alive and awake" and so on. It just sounds hilarious because they sound so serious!

Mortal - "Lusis"

Mortal - Lusis

1992, Intense

1. Enfleshed (The Word is Alive)

2. Mytho-X

3. If Ever Maria

4. Fisherman

5. Painkiller

6. Tuesday Assassin

7. Rescinding

8. Cryptic

9. Miracle Man

10. Santa Cruz

11. S.F.N.

12. Sinister

13. Enfleshed (Alive is the Word)

Lusis has the distinction of being the very first industrial record in the Christian market. After this was released Circle of Dust, Under Midnight, and a few others were able to get off the ground. I was just amazed by it when it was first released. It sort of sounds a little like Nine Inch Nails but with some pop flavor to it, not unlike EMF. The guitars aren't quite as crunchy or as upfront as other bands but that's okay because I think there's a bit more going on in terms of beats, samples, and other techno sounding stuff. "Mytho-X" and "Painkiller" have some infectious beats and hooks. I still love this one just as much as I did when it first came out.

Useless Fact: There are several samples from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier so the album gets an extra point or two in my book.