LORD MANTIS - Death Mask (2014)

Genre(s): - Sludge/Black Metal

Label: Profound Lore Records

Rating: 6/10

The first track, "Body Choke," has a twisted intro, followed by a groovy yet dark, low, and threatening verse. The vocals are great, reminiscent, in a way, of Celtic Frost/Triptykon but in a higher pitch. Then, surprisingly, a blastbeat bursts in; I don't know what to expect from this band (this is my first acquaintance with them on record, and I've only seen them once in a shitty venue, actually as direct support for Cobalt). The guitars slowly pummel away while the drums kill it. Then, after a moment of silence, a slower groove is re-established. The guitar parts are suddenly more interesting, even if only slightly. On the title track, "Death Mask," the picking rhythm of the guitars in the intro and verse match the drum rhythm, which gives way to a blastbeat and tremolo picking. "Possession Prayer" certainly starts slow. This track features some synthesiser sounds which I don't think quite fit, and are actually somewhat bothersome to me. Overall, this song seems to go nowhere.

Next is "You Will Gag for the Fix," an instrumental interlude, featuring keys and possibly electric guitar (?); it's difficult to hear with the synthesiser noise droning over the instruments. "Negative Birth" starts off with a low, doomy riff, befitting a sludge song. Once the other guitar and the rest of the instruments kick in, it becomes infinitely more original sounding. It then picks up in pace, until it reaches a blastbeat with tremolo picking. This may be the best song on the album. The tremolo picked low notes are great. The riff at 5:55 is particularly of note. Unfortunately, it is about the end of the song. Now the sixth track, "Coil," has the most interesting intro so far. The only vocals have an effect on them such that they sound extraterrestrial. Turns out, that's the whole song. Not a bad one, though. The closer, "Three Crosses," starts off with a foreboding riff. It trudges along like this for fully half the song, when a tasteful lead is lain over a change in riff. The higher strings are used in a later tremolo strummed riff which is actually the best on the album. This is played for some time, until a drastic change occurs, dropping to the lower strings again, which plays 'til the song's end.

On a whole, this was a pretty disappointing album. I expect a lot from Profound Lore releases, and this, frankly, is not up to snuff. The first half of the album is flat-out boring; the second half makes up for that, but not enough to bring it above a six out of ten. It's a shame, I was looking forward to listening to this, because, despite having a shit sound in a shitty venue when I saw them, they put on an electrifying performance, and surely seem like legit guys. I just don't know where they went wrong with this. If you wish to buy it to check it out for yourself or if you think I'm dead wrong and Lord Mantis can err not, then here is a link. And yes, I did buy it (I own everything I review; it's a condition of this blog).