Morthem Vlade Art
Organic But Not Mental

Don't be too misled by the monicker, because despite the dark and sick atmospheres that our band was able to lavish in abundance, at least in the first three LPs, we are not dealing with any subgenre of extreme metal. In fact, the offering of the aforementioned Morthem Vlade Art doesn’t even fall into the metal cauldron.

And yet.....

And yet if you kindly persevere to follow the review until the end, you might discover something at least unexpectedly fascinating.

Well, I would say to start with some biographical notes: behind the mournful and chilling project Morthem Vlade Art lie the deviant figures of the duo Gregg Anthe (multi-instrumentalist, main vocalist, and chief composer)/ Emmanuell D. (muse as well as female vocalist and author of the majority of the sick lyrics), hailing from worldly and perverse Paris and active since 1995, the year they recorded the very interesting demo "Order of the fly, Azazel and/or Allegory of putrefaction", which, after a long gestation and appropriately revised, corrected and extended, transformed into the frightening, in a positive sense, debut entitled "Herbo Dou Diable" (1998).

The album under review is the follow-up to a debut highly appreciated by the specialized press belonging to the dark/electro/gothic world and therefore extremely anticipated, especially to assess whether the first full-length should be considered a single lucky episode or if indeed the proposal of the transalpine duo (appropriately assisted in the studio by a series of respectable session musicians) had been consolidated and expanded.

Well, to say that "Organic but not mental" (2000) is damnably (and believe me there is no better term to affirm it) superior to the excellent predecessor is an understatement: if indeed the debut still owed something, in terms of originality, to a wicked and abnormal symbiosis between the death rock of Christian Death (let's say between "Catastrophe Ballet" and "Atrocities") and horrific symphonic/orchestral scores (truly diabolical) deriving from Dead Can Dance (certain episodes of "Aion" or "Within the realm of the dying sun" come to mind), this second LP enchants for the dark ability to energetically detach from the classic but now overused gothic clichés, so much as to start a journey of sound introspection that will lead them to a drift of a purely electronic nature devoid of rock reminiscences, particularly in the second half of their career, let's say from "Photography in things" onwards.

But in the discographic chapter we are about to deal with today, the goth rock component still dominates so much so that its roar often borders on metal, not so much for the style in which it is played (absolutely far from any structural contamination) but for the powerful impact that songs like the opener "The night before", "Spirits" or the splendid "Splendor in the grass" know how to deliver.

"Organic but not mental" is conceived as a wise alternation between let's say more "traditional" tracks (see above) and languid ambient/orchestral suites like "Danger crowl on mosaic" or "Fragance", not at all boring, self-referential or worse tacky, in which, on the contrary, the sensation of rotten and psychologically sick is even more evident and easily deduced by reading the insane and self-destructive lyrics (as we will see later). The whole is seasoned with abundant doses of electronics (and here the influence of David Gahan and associates begins to be felt), synth, noise of an almost industrial nature but never cacophonic, even cinematic samples ("Silent Cries", a really striking short track) and a notable propensity for dramatic and evocative melody, theatrical and very dark.

Another peculiarity is the use of a "human" drummer (the one Henry Kincet) alongside sampled percussions, which thanks to a wise mixing work seem perfectly interpolated.

Gregg Anthe's somewhat childlike and nasal voice (see "Narcissus Methamorphosys" and "Dreams are Gone") slightly reminds of Damon Albarn from Blur's "Think Tank" while deep, androgynous, and very languid tones characterize the suites on which Emmanuell D lends her truly distinctive voice (nothing to do with any other female singer in the dark/goth/rock and metal scene, in my opinion)

As said before another strong point, in all senses, is the lyrics: the album is presented as an introspective journey to discover one's own body through a naive/lucid curiosity that leads the author Emmanuell D. directly to narrate surgical inspection practices, to better understand the hidden mechanisms that allow the mind and body to work in symbiotic or asynchronous mode (hence the album's title). All told with an extreme poetic spirit without ever transcending into Carcass-style pathology treatises.

In short, this "Organic but not mental", does not present weak points or moments of decline in any aspect, from the interesting artwork, to the music, up to the lyrics.

For those who have never heard them, I recommend a listen, for those who know them only by name or through other works, I tell them to get this album of exceedingly high intrinsic value.