Few labels have done as much to bring genre-defining acts (Darkthrone, paradise Lost, My dying bride, autopsy) and underground behemoths (Aura noir, Thorns) to an appreciative audience than Peaceville. A label founded with a deep rooted passion and respect for the bands on its roster, that respect has manifested of late in excellently represented (and priced) re-issues of long-deleted albums boasting all manner of extras from bonus tracks to updated artwork and liner notes. Up for review this time is ‘Tolling 13 knell’, the third album of darkly disturbing black metal from Mortuary Drape. Packaged here in a slipcase and offering up full lyrics, briefly explanatory liner notes (ported over from the original release) and, the prize for collectors, four bonus tracks captured at the ‘tolling…’ sessions which saw the band re-recording tracks from their ‘doom return’ demo.
It’s hard to believe, but ‘tolling…’ is now thirteen years old (making this the perfect time for a re-issue seeing as the album was cleverly named the first time round as a celebration of it having been released on the thirteenth year since the band was founded), but, as with Darkthrone, Mortuary Drape are so utterly uninterested in passing fads and contemporary trends that the music sounds as fresh and timeless as it did on its first release. This is probably helped by a pristine re-mastering job that has added extra depth and weight to the album’s hypnotic songs.
Written and conceived as a concept record to be digested all in one sitting, Mortuary Drape exist in the same twisted realm as Blut Aus Nord, the music crafted to reflect the potency of the lyrics. This is briefly explained in the liner notes, and it is notable that the band succeeded in their aim of creating a work of depth and majesty. There is a dusty, near gothic atmosphere surrounding the songs and nothing is taken for granted, each song clearly having been carefully developed by the band.
The album opens with the tortured gasp of ‘dreadful discovery’ a track that builds out of eerie, horrific sounds and then explodes into full-on thrashing black metal reminiscent of Venom’s thuggish assault. It doesn’t take long, however, before the band throw in awkward time changes and the song pummels you with its diabolical intricacies before the band slither straight into the subtle, serpentine ‘Liar Jubileum’, a rich, malevolent tapestry that tears apart to reveal a blackened heart of pure, riff-driven fury. ‘Vertical’ opens with a nimble bass riff and a whimsical, almost fairy-tale aspect (albeit Grimm rather than Disney) that marks out Mortuary Drape as a band unafraid to try their hand at even the most contradictory sonic experiments if it furthers the cause of the music as a whole. And it works – the subtle, dark territories that ‘Vertical’ draws you into are chillingly effective, and make the furious riffs that abound elsewhere seem all the more effective., not least those of ‘Not still born’, a dry, imperious track powered by a furious drum track that sounds like rolling thunder even as the riffs are tinder-dry, as if they’d been drawn from Paradise Lost’s ‘gothic’, with only the bass sounding rich and full in the mix.
‘Laylah’ is one of the most exceptional tracks on the album. Atmospheric and constructed like a Dario Argento horror film, it oozes atmosphere and poison up until the point it ignites, the furious guitars gouging holes in song’s subtle structure. It is a mark of the band’s skill that the diversity never sounds forced or laboured, and the assertion in the liner notes that each sound was carefully orchestrated to follow the lyrics is borne out on this remarkable piece of work. ‘Winged priestess’ has a traditional metal feel to its intro which is powered by the bass, recalling Iron Maiden at their more progressive end, before shifting deftly between mystical folk and searing black metal, whilst ‘the last supper’ is a dark, blood soaked take on biblical lore, resplendent with tortured riffs and the scent of violence in the air. ‘Birth’s end’ opens on a doom trip before the blazing inferno of hell singes its heels and the band break into a frenzied gallop, the guitars slicing away at the listener with razor-tipped intensity. ‘Defuncts’ is rather more elegant in its approach, with the solos that dominate the latter half sounding particularly regal. The final track of the album proper, ‘lantern’, closes the record on a suitably mystical, downbeat note, the guitars building a note of tension with their clean tone and atonal undercurrent before finally bursting in a torrent of hyper-speed riffing toward the conclusion.
‘Tolling 13 knell’ is an intelligent album that relies on atmosphere and subtlety rather than a full-on assault. Whilst there are plenty of open-throated, rasping attacks and brutal guitar lines to enjoy over the course of the album, it is the areas where the band allows themselves space to explore the hitherto untouched hinterlands of black metal that stick in the memory. Here power is used with reason, force often delayed for maximum effect, with the result that the album flows naturally across its ten tracks, each one building into the next, to form a cohesive and fascinating whole. For those who already have this release the factors to clearly consider are the excellent re-mastering which brings out all of the album’s disparate elements in detail and the four bonus tracks, which benefit from having been recorded at the same session, thus maintaining a similar sound to the album tracks, although the guitar sound is notably thinner on ‘pentegram’. Of the bonus tracks, ‘undead revenge’ is the highlight, with its creepy intro and menacing feel, but all are worth owning, and if you are a completist, then you’ll be on your way to grab a copy already anyway. Quite frankly, however, if you’re a fan of black metal ‘Tolling 13 knell’ would be essential even if shorn of all extra incentives, and if you do not yet have a copy then this should be next on your purchase list – this is an album that demonstrates clearly the power of ambition and the heights to which bands can ascend if given the right support. ‘Tolling 13 knell’ is a remarkable ride, dizzying in its scope and bold in its excursions away from accepted black metal territory and this reissue does it full justice.
