''Mortification'' is the debut studio album by Australian

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band Mortification. It was released on 12 October 1991. This album leans more towards

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

than the band's demo album ''

Break the Curse ''Break the Curse'' is a demo album by the Australian Christian extreme metal band Mortification. It was released in 1994 as ''Break the Curse 1990''. The album focuses on Mortification's thrash metal style rather than their later death metal. ...

'', but retains thrash metal elements. Five songs from the demo album were re-recorded for ''Mortification''. In 2002, ''The

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Guide to Contemporary Christian Music'' described the album's sound as "

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

-meets-metal grind-core". A bundle containing ''Mortification'' and ''

Scrolls of the Megilloth ''Scrolls of the Megilloth'' is the second studio album by Australian Christian extreme metal band Mortification. It was released on 28 August 1992. The band's most famous release, this album is full-on death metal, with the thrash metal roots ...

'' was released on

KMG Records KMG (Killen Music Group) Records was a Christian record label. The label was established in 1997 by Buddy Killen as a subunit of the Killen Music Group / Buddy Killen Enterprises and sold in late 1998 to Cal Turner III, who is related to the Cal ...

in 1998 and on Rowe Productions in 2015, with the latter being exclusively on cassette. Soundmass Records re-released the album with five bonus tracks in 2020, and again in 2022 with new remastering and nine bonus tracks recorded at Q.U.T. Campus Club in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on 27 September 1991. Although not as popular as its 1992 follow-up album ''Scrolls of the Megilloth'', ''Mortification'' became reputive in both Christian and secular metal scenes for its remarkably brutal output.

Andrew Tompkins Andrew Tompkins is the lead vocalist and bassist for the Australian doom metal band Paramaecium, which was considered to be the biggest Christian doom metal band. Andrew has a daughter named Enara. Tompkins' cousin is Mark Orr, former drummer o ...

, from the Australian Christian metal band

Paramaecium Paramaecium (sometimes typeset as Paramæcium) was an Australian death/doom metal band formed in 1991. There is use of instrumentation like flutes, cellos and violins on some albums. Paramaecium is one of the few doom metal bands that focus o ...

, and Derek Sean and Roger Martinez, from the American Christian metal band

Vengeance Rising Vengeance Rising was an American Christian metal, Christian thrash metal band from Los Angeles, California. Fronted by vocalist Roger Martinez, they originally formed as Vengeance in 1987, but changed their name in 1989 to avoid conflict with an ...

, were additional musicians on the album, with Sean contributing additional lead guitar and both Martinez and Tompkins contributing additional backing vocals; Martinez was also the producer and one of the two mixers on the album, the other being Gil Morales.

Songs

There are two short grindcore songs: "Turn" (33 s.) and "The Majestic Infiltration of Order" (1:07); the latter is commonly known as "God Rulz" because those are the only lyrics in the song and is still often played at the band's concerts. "The Majestic Infiltration of Order" was later re-recorded as "God Rulz" for '' Hammer of God'', Mortification's eighth studio album, in 1999. Music videos were shot for "Turn," "Until the End," "The Destroyer Beholds," and "The Majestic Infiltration of Order" by film maker Neil Johnson; these videos were released on the video compilation ''Grind Planets''. The songs "The Destroyer Beholds" and "The Majestic Infiltration of Order" were originally titled "Infectious Growth" and "God Rulz".

Artwork

Jayson Sherlock's original cover art (seen above, nicknamed the "gnarly cover") was censored by some Christian bookstores; the label shipped them a version with an alternate album cover solely containing the band's logo. The 2020 reissue contains both album covers.

Track listing

:Songs re-recorded from Mortification's ''

'' demo album :Re-recorded as "God Rulz" on '' Hammer of God'' (1999)

Personnel

Mortification *

Steve Rowe Steve Rowe (born 19 January 1965) is the founder, bass guitarist, and vocalist of the Australian Christian death metal band Mortification which was considered to be a major pioneer in the genre. Prior to forming Mortification he was in a trad ...

– lead vocals, bass guitar *Michael Carlisle – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals *

Jayson Sherlock Jayson Sherlock (born 1970) is a Christian metal musician from Australia. He began his career in the Australian death metal band Mortification, which was considered to be a major pioneer in the genre. Sherlock was the founder of the one-man pr ...

– drums, backing vocals Additional musicians *Derek Sean (

) – additional lead guitar *

(

), Roger Martinez (Vengeance Rising) – additional backing vocals Production *Roger Martinez – producer, mixing *Gil Morales – mixing, mix engineer at Pakaderm West in Los Alamitos, California *Mal Dennis – tracking engineer at Power Plant Studio in Carlton, Melbourne, Australia Additional personnel *Joe Potter – design *Steve More, Andrew "Surfie" Stuivenberg – photography *Ed McTaggart – art direction *Jayson Sherlock – Mortification logo and cover artwork *Scott Waters ( Ultimatum) – design and layout (2020 and 2022 versions), liner notes (2020 version) *Paul D. Clifford – remastering at PCP Studios in Australia (2022 version)

Notes

^1. "The Destroyer Beholds" and "Journey of Reconciliation" are both on the same track (track 9) on the 2022 reissue. ^2. "Bathed in Blood (Live 1991)" is an identical recording on both the 2020 and 2022 reissues.

References

{{Authority control Mortification (band) albums 1991 debut albums