Mortiis
Perfectly Defect

10-10-10 is the date chosen by Mortiis for the release, after six years of silence (remixes aside), of a completely new work following "The Grudge". The horrible Norwegian goblin has in the past puzzled his fans more than once, jumping from the early black metal with Emperor, to a reasonably long career in dark and electronic ambient, to land in the new millennium first in an electro-gothic with "melodic" tones ("The Smell of Rain"), then succumbing to the charm of industrial (NIN above all) and giving birth in Era 3 to a "The Grudge" full of resentment and sonic violence. To be able to review "Perfectly Defect", ready after years of various tribulations, it is essential to know the history of this individual and his band (today the name Mortiis designates an actual band), because here we find new elements and cross-cutting reminiscences that delve into the murky depths of Our artist's career.

The album's imprint is certainly Industrial, not too distant from the powerful and disturbing electronic sounds of "The Grudge" with its scratchy electric guitars, but with more cadenced and dark rhythms, less delirious and more introspective. The influence of NIN, Covenant (with whom he toured), Das Ich, and several more or less famous others from the electronic scene, is heavily felt, but Mortiis frees himself from them ("The Grudge" had been accused of being too indebted to Reznor and Co) by inserting his experience in the ambient field. The tracks, therefore, give the impression of dragging the listener into a bottomless abyss, a dark nightmare where violence and despair are suffocated by surrender to the shadows. Mortiis asserts his compositional ability, according to a personal taste, balancing electronics (largely dominant) and rock in a rather original way. The album can be divided into two parts: the first consists of very interesting sung tracks ("Closer to the End" an excellent opening track and "Perfectly Defect" reminiscent of the old single "The Grudge", followed by the ballad "Sensation of Guilt" somewhat similar to "Everyone Leaves"), the second part leaves ample space for almost entirely instrumental tracks that, winking at some sounds of Prodigy, often trigger Mortiis's effected voice (notable are "Halo of Arms" and the closing track "This Absolution").

The album is overall interesting, not particularly innovative, but not stale either. Mortiis maneuvers between potentially more commercial tracks (as much as they can be defined as such), concentrated in the opening, and ambient evocations, a genre evidently still very dear to him, in an industrial key. As for flaws, one cannot fail to notice an imperfect production (a rather grave sin for this kind of music) that sometimes renders the sounds a bit muddy, and it must be admitted that unless you are truly passionate, the long instrumental-electronic sequences get tedious over time. Honestly, I much prefer the first tracks. Perhaps it's a matter of digesting yet another new sound of this increasingly gloomy character.

Score 3.5, I add half a point because I am senselessly fond of Mortiis.