Channeling the reflections of past lives through thirty plus years of experience in morbid necromancy and the dark arts Alessandria, Italy-based black/heavy metal quartet Mortuary Drape accesses eerily familiar events, parallel happenstance alight in spine-chilling déjà vu on this admirably achieved sixth full-length album. Returning with an even more profound, and perhaps easiest read, sense of self in hand the cult behind the legend who’d generate their own obsidian pathway between the first and second waves flings burnt parchment and ghastly premonition to each side as their tunnel-envisioned sermon retains its familiar transformational sting on ‘Black Mirror‘. A thrilling, kicking speed arcane heavy metal record still obsessed with the old ways, there is some strong argument made herein for the timeless efficacy of auld evil heavy metal.

Enslaved by an obsession with witchcraft and necromancy, attuning themselves to the thrum of soon-to-be desecrated graveyards in order to engage in unsacred consultation with the dead Mortuary Drape formed circa 1986 as a trio which’d eventually expanded to a quartet for their legendary kinda one-off demo (‘Necromancy‘, 1987) a raw horror-cinematic template for black metal atmosphere and in some sense riffcraft. Sporting a sound relatable to the same-era formative works of Samael and Master’s Hammer which were most clearly inspired by the impetus of Hellhammer and Sodom but with their own envisioned theme that had more to do with the horror metal of Mercyful Fate. They’d returned a couple of years later with the same drummer, Wildness Perversion, and bassist/vocalist The Undead but it was clear they’d moved in a somewhat different direction with new guitarist Wicked Angel whom only ever appeared on their second demo tape (‘Doom Returns‘, 1989). I would submit “Necromancer” as one of the early classic pieces from the band which blurs the first wave/second wave clarity to at least some degree but most of that second tape had certainly taken in some manner of Venom-style theatric in the long walk to their first official releases. If you ever find yourself needing to make the argument that black metal existed outside of and prior to better-known Scandinavian revisionism in droves consider including this group’s formative years in the underground as strong representative evidence.

All expectations from those looking back in memoriam, or anyone seeking eldest provenance, must pass through the hugely influential ‘Into the Drape‘ (1992) mLP which’d been important for the early Hellenic black metal scene specifically (alongside many others) but also a realization of the heavy/speed metal influenced black metal sound they’d been struggling with in the demo phase. This’d been thanks to finding a much better guitarist in Maniac of Sacrifice, giving drummer Wildness Perversion the vocal spot, and adding session keyboards. We could argue the merits of the EP versus their debut LP (‘All the Witches Dance‘, 1994) but in my mind the addition of second guitarist Old Necromancer was the solidification of the early most classic Mortuary Drape sound. So, why is this particular trip down an ancient crypt so important today, decades later? This group remains incredibly unsung in modern revisionist black metal circles. Witnessing the process of development, from clouded-black demo tapes to a thrashing, intense true black metal craft circa 1994 should be inspiring to anyone truly invested in the sub-genre and its lasting personae. So much went into that first album, an idea that’d been gestating since 1986, that it’d been a difficult but not impossible act to follow.

My own introduction to Mortuary Drape manifested as a random purchase of ‘Secret Sudaria‘ (1997) as their name came highly recommended and the album artwork promised barbaric death worship with a pile of bones, black candles and an inverted crucifix. Oddly enough that second album thrashed a bit more to the point that it is often considered death/thrash by some though the album’s reach is varied and features their most classic points of inspiration, including a bit of King Diamond-esque wailing on a few songs and hardcore punk/thrash riffs all over several pieces, to the point that most wouldn’t know what to expect from the band beyond this unique crossing of first and second wave black/heavy metal uncertainty; From that point their early 2000’s set work was on a modern path in some distanced sense, incorporating numerous different musicians for each of those records until it seemed the line-up steadied circa 2010 and one of their better releases per my own taste (‘Spiritual Independence‘, 2014) signaled their return after a nearly decade long hiatus. Most notably that release returned vocalist/maestro Wilderness Perversion to the drum kit, altering the presence of that album to something more indicative of Mortuary Drape‘s earlier releases. Whether you’ve decided to take the wild ride through their six album discography on the event of ‘Black Mirror‘ or simply skip through whatever sticks I’d suggest you’ll get the real thing on that fifth album and this’d been the main reason I’d arrive upon this new album with some intense expectations.

If you are already intimately familiar with what Mortuary Drape represent in terms of treating black metal as it’d originally arrived, a fusion of classic heavy metal elements given dark black presentation, then no doubt ‘Black Mirror‘ will impress. Their approach today is of course built from idiosyncrasies that’d developed in the 90’s but still resembles the refined touch of extreme heavy metal as it’d developed in the late 80’s, sidestepping the roughshod raw countercultural side of black metal in terms of not leaving aspects of speed, thrash and death metal behind. This means three-to-four minute heavy metal songs with gloom-stricken melodies and occult eerie abounding find their gamut run on this nearly ~50 minute album, a menacing and diabolical heavy metal album at the very least. If you are a fan of (or, familiar with) the first two records from this group, you’ll understand what ‘Black Mirror‘ is and especially if you’ve connected with ‘Secret Sudaria‘ and ‘Spiritual Independence‘, both of which took a step beyond the primitive edge of their debut LP. One cut through “The Secret Lost” and you’ll have gotten the thrashing staccato, the clanging church bells, and the ghostly melodic humming of the farewell verse as a familiar welcome to their morbid dungeon.

Per the press materials Wilderness Perversion suggests that this album is potentially an approachable “in” to their realm, a morbid heavy metal record at its core which is yet easy to read and immerse within for its consistent style and render. This is helped along by a certain quick to form tunnel vision, a sense of ease which passes from song to song without any real interruption from their vibrantly struck horror-chord which has fully set in by the time the rolling charge of “Drowned in Silence” has rounded out the introductory assault of ‘Black Mirror‘; With fairly short pieces hitting one after another it’d been somewhat difficult to nail down a song that’d stood out to start beyond “Rattle Breath” and perhaps because it is the one most clearly inspired by 90’s Mercyful Fate with its shuddering vocals and mechanical double-bass throttled movement. Perhaps “Ritual Unction” had taken us there but there is a distinct progression felt in those first four songs overall. At that point in the full listen it has become clear enough the main modus of the songcraft here centers around simple rhythmic play, nothing too out of the ordinary for the band but at times more laid back in pacing compared to ‘Spiritual Independence‘.

The peak of this morbid chill, or, the point where they appear to take a small breath is “Mistress of Sorcerer” as the song builds up a simple enough central thrash riff which they take through its motions per doomed corridors and jogging stride throughout the piece, a classic Mortuary Drape song if nothing else. Otherwise Side B is essentially a ready-full vessel for most of my favorite pieces on the album, starting with the wall-to-wall riffs of “Nocturnal Coven” and through the scrubbed at rhythms of “The Unburied”, which does well to overstate the clangor of the bass guitar tone on the album as its punkish verve stretches into some more elaborate lead guitar spots (of which the album needed more, overall) while maintaining a buzzing, galloped and half-blasted pace throughout. There’d been no major reason for this song to stand out among most of the rest of the tracklist upon first impression but as I continued to delve into the album with repeat listens the subtleties of the full listen did eventually reveal but without necessarily revealing an obvious “single” or catchy piece. The finale of ‘Black Mirror‘ only gets more involved from there as Mortuary Drape cut into impressive and all-around representative closer “Fading Flowers Spell”. This’d have to serve as a necessary send-off for an album that’d taken something like ten listens to fully sink in.

The full listen was somewhat overlong for my taste yet not mired in any one particular point of excess beyond an abundance of songs which’d apparently been cut down from a double album’s worth of output for these writing sessions. They were inspired for these works and from my point of view this’d been readily apparent in their action. — As I sat and considered where ‘Black Mirror‘ rests as an important entry in the deep underground legacy of thee essential Mortuary Drape I believe it is an important point to make that the classic affect of the band is upheld. They’ve chosen to remain what they are and what they have always been rather than flip the script just a few years beyond their third decade as an original extreme metal entity and this makes for a familiar yet representative sixth album which keenly avoids self-parody. While the shorter song lengths and rousing pace might appear alien to start this is part of the long-standing band’s signature which is well reflected here when we take a closer look at the bones of their 90’s output. A high recommendation.

---