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BACK
 MORTIIS–
A Second Skin
By Adrian ‘The Energizer’ Bromley
NET-only
Change
is good, change is expected. But is it the case for everyone’s
favourite Norwegian cave-dweller, Mortiis?
One listen to the new album The Smell of Rain (on Earache)
from the musician with the grotesque nose and eerie ambiance and
you may just be pinching yourself to awake from this deep slumber.
Well, pinch away, Mortiis fans—your favourite troll has ditched
the dark side and stepped into the industrial/electronica realm
where danceable songs like "You Put a Hex on Me," "Parasite
God," and "Spirit in a Vacuum" come at you in a blaring
blast of beats.
Pass the smelling salts!
"This is definitely a new direction for me and I am glad to
be doing this kind of music with Mortiis," he begins down the
line. "I actually grew really tired of what I was doing. I
didn’t feel like there was anything else to do with all of
that dark stuff and ambiance. I just didn’t have the will to
go on with it, really. I just decided that I was going to continue
on trying to pursue my real dream of having my own band and do this
whole rock thing with heavy music.
"I have always been into this heavy rock/electronic thing,
but I just kind of got away from it all for a while. Things had
to change."
What set it all off?
"I just got very disillusioned with the whole Mortiis concept
and the music. It just wasn’t what I wanted to do, and it is
sad to say that it took so long to realize this. I had fun for a
few albums and I was happy with the way Stargate [1999] ended it
all out for that era of Mortiis. Before Stargate was released and
before I started to tour for it, I knew I really wasn’t into
it all anymore. It was really a depressing period for me.
"When the writing for this record began and songs started forming,
I was a little cautious of things," he says. "I started
to write material that was close but a bit different from Stargate
and then take bits of pieces from it and backtrack a bit and add
some outside influences. I was combing though ideas and added elements
of industrial and electronica into the music I was creating."
He continues, "I kept adding new stuff and taking away a lot
of the old elements of Mortiis that I had grown tired of. It was
pretty scary watching me dismantle the music, but at the same time
exciting to create new music and new sounds."
And knowing quite well that Mortiis will receive some flak for altering
his sound and approach to music (some of the metal media have already
voiced disinterest in his new direction), how will he react to those
who just won’t digest it?
"I think people can think what they want. Some might even think
I should change my name as well. If you look carefully at the logo,
there is a slight cryptic hint that says ‘M:E II’ which
means Mortiis Era II. I thought of a name change, but is it necessary?
Just because I changed musically it doesn’t mean I changed
my personality, so why should I change my name? It just doesn’t
seem necessary.
"I don’t let any of that negative stuff bother me. Why
should I?" explains Mortiis. "If you do that, you lose
perspective of why you are here in the first place. I think I might
feel bad about it for maybe 10 seconds or so, but that is the human
reaction to show off emotions. Maybe one day I’ll be thick
skinned enough to not care at all. If you let any of that bad press
or reactions get the best of you then you completely lose sight
of why you are doing this: to create music. In a lot of ways, musicians
hate having to go through the media to promote their stuff. I think
a lot of people like me get a lot of flak because we aren’t
commercial. When you create music, you want to create music that
will reach the actual fans and not have to go through a lot of channels
to turn you into something you are not."
So with the music being stripped of the Mortiis attributes, does
that mean the image of Mortiis—the nose and the black garb—will
soon go too?
"I think I did change the image a little bit; it seems as though
the character has become a little bit more naked. As for now, I
am keeping that ‘second skin,’ so to speak. Who knows
what will happen in the future? Now that this album has just come
out, I don’t want to make any drastic decisions. Nothing really
has made me feel that it was necessary to drop the whole image at
this point in time. What it all comes down to for me is the music.
Music is the most important thing for me. The image is a bonus."
He adds, "I think a lot of people look at Mortiis and the images
and just think I am here for the show, and that is so far from the
truth."
The topic of conversation once again shifts to his disinterest with
his music and what Mortiis had become. Mortiis points to a certain
time in his career that led to his abandoning the dark music he
once performed.
"There was a point in time a few years back when I was putting
out record after record because for some reason I wanted to be the
artist to put out the most records in the shortest amount of time
or in the span of a year so I could get into the Guinness Book of
Records [Ha! – ed]. But what I didn’t realize was that
I was putting out crappy records. I really found out that I had
to kick my ass in gear and set things straight. I am happy with
where I am and think I’ll be happy with the second era of Mortiis."
He finishes, "I think I have finally learned the art of spending
time with music and making sure that it is good. The second record
in this new era of Mortiis will no doubt be much more stronger than
what you have here. I think fans who embrace this record will be
excited to where things are headed with Mortiis. I know I am pleased
with where Mortiis is going musically. As long as I am happy, I
can do anything."
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