Hi there,

Do you guys know Mortiis ? It's a cool industrial band by one of the creator of Emperor.

Tell me what you think of it : link to his page

I'll comment more later,

Greets, Valenten

Haaah, we listened to some of his earlier stuff yesterday, "Fanget i Kristall" (Trapped in Crystal), from his casio-wizard days, the "Crypt of the Wizard" days. Hideous! But still very adorable in it's unrelenting escapism & fantasy feeling. I mean, he has got some brilliant melodies, but a lot of it is so bloody untight & cheap you can't help but laugh. Esp. the sideproject VOND, the second album.

You should check out CINTECELE DIAVOLUI, a project he did one album with. Amazing. Sounds like a vampire town fair set in the villages surrounding the castles of early CASTLEVANIA games.

Tried to listen a bit to the newer songs, bu tI only got half a minute into "The Grudge" and had to turn it off. Sorry.

I'll keep to the old stuff, if anything.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rgYff0Nb9M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f95w11tt ... re=related

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH
CINTECELE DIAVOLUI!!! dive into this! can't help but completely love this, enthralling! and I have no problem with people laughing at me for thinking so, haha.
The Midnight Hunt - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvCIFngILEA (note the drums that enter at 2:41)
Dance of the Dead - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdCJxqy8 ... re=related
Vampir - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3zA7S-z ... re=related

I have been listening to Mortiis for more than 10 years. I discovered him when Crypt of the Wizard was released and my favourite tracks are still found on this release. I liked both The Stargate and The Smell Of Rain for some time but got tired of them. I have also been listening to Vond, Cintecele Diavolui and Fata Morgana on and off - mostly Vond.

Same here, but I never got into Vond and never ever listened to Fata Morgana or that thing to which aVoid freaks out (but gotta do it).

Anyway The Stargate is far better than The Smell of Rain (which has ominous moments already), much next to those casio-wizard (lol) days, but even if it has much better sounds, the feeling is less present.

I always got a strong Mortiis vibe from Burzum's Tomhet, and that's the feeling I appreciate the most in the Crypt of the Wizard releases. If one can go past the goblin/mummy/whatever image of this being, there are good things to discover.

Never really got into The Grudge or whatever came after it.

Will put on the good ol' Onden som Gjord Opprör Pic LP for nostalgic reasons. Can remember a time when this guy really had some nice ideas...

I could just never get into this guy. I had a few of his older CDs, and "The Smell of Rain", but ... eh. Just not into it at all. Too repetitive. And believe me, I like repetition done right (Rhys Chatham, MONO, Transylvanian Hunger).

Nope. Never got into him. Cool makeup, though.

Well, I've always been fascinated by his "Crypt of the Wizard" album. Although its keyboards can sound quite cheap to the ear, its atmosphere still ranks amongs the best ambient releases I know. (Other highlights: Sephiroth (Cathedron / Draconian Poetry), Ulf Soderberg's other albums (Nattljus / Tidvatten / Vindarnas Hus) and most of Raison d'être's mid-period stuff ) The playfulness in certain tracks (the ending of Trollmannens Krypt, I morket drommende and the album closer Fanget I Krystal) further enhances the mood. Only problem with the album is its new cover... Could it be more ridiculous!!!? Looks like a hatchling trying to spread its wings....

I listened to Cintecele Diavolui once on a Cold Meat sampler, liked what I heard and got the album. Same goes here, cheap sounds creating a fun and morbid atmosphere... Perhaps even more playful and cheery than the Crypt album...


Now...that being said...Is there anyone out there who knows the album (Crypt of the Wizard) and understands what is being said in "Stjernefodt"? It's probably in Norwegian, so...

"The Song Of A Long Forgotten Ghost" is such a journey, as is "Født til å Herske," both of which have the ultimate dark castle/misty forest/ghostly vibes . Just purchased "Crypt of the Wizard" but I haven't dived in.