Artist: Mortal Dread
Country: USA
Label: Nuclear War Now! Productions
Formats: LP
Year: 2026
Of course, there is every reason for a label to provide a release with some words of praise as part of its promotional work. Often, however, there is exaggerated hyping of an album with words such as “classic” and “influential,” or comparisons are made with the best and best-selling band in (roughly) the same genre. Although I have no doubt that Nuclear War Now! Productions released this old (and only) demo by Mortal Dread out of pure love for this band and the ancient Death Metal genre in general, ‘Rancid Disembowelment’ is presented as something more than it actually is. And not so much musically, but mainly the claim that it left a “lasting mark” is actually difficult to sustain for a band that only the ultimate adepts of the genre remember.
Searching for more information about Mortal Dread than what Metal-Archives has to offer yields very little. I did come across a review written a few years ago, and although I don’t usually attach much importance to such things, the phrase “Behind every Obituary there are a dozen Viogressions, behind every Viogression there are a dozen Mortal Dreads” is actually the most apt description. At least, as far as popularity or historical importance is concerned.
Musically speaking, there is plenty to enjoy, because although the band only left behind one demo after existing for just a few years, that demo is certainly good enough to warrant a re-release on vinyl. Both the label and the reviewer mentioned above have drawn musical parallels with Viogression, Morta Skuld, Phantasm, and especially Dr. Shrinker. They couldn’t be more right. The generally mid-tempo Death Metal is completely free of any frills and more than once falls short in its execution. The latter is precisely what makes this kind of Death Metal, or any form of Extreme Metal for that matter, so charming. This seems to be an almost parallel world to that of Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel. One is not necessarily preferable to the other, but the youthfulness that radiates from these kinds of semi-rehearsal recordings is something that is inextricably integrated into the early years of Extreme Metal. A time when demo tapes, with hand-drawn covers, were frequently sent around the globe. Although bands such as Autopsy, Deicide, Malevolent Creation, Carcass, Pungent Stench, and Bolt Thrower enjoyed the greatest popularity, it was bands such as Mortal Dread that got a large part of the underground scene moving. It goes without saying that not all bands could become big crowd favorites, but there is no doubt that Mortal Dread contributed to the (especially local) scene.
I’m not sure if anything has been done to the sound here, but ‘Rancid Disembowelment’ certainly sounds much heavier than I remembered it. That means that even today, this vinyl reissue is a great release for fans of simple death metal à la Nunslaughter, Sathanas, Massacre, Derkéta, Master, Autopsy, and especially Dr. Shrinker.
