Artist: Mortuary
Country: Mexico
Label: Horror Pain Gore Death Records
Formats: CD EP
Year: 2026
For many, the return of Mortuary, one of the best Death Metal bands Mexico has ever produced, was something eagerly anticipated. Maybe not entirely comparable, but Mexico was for Death Metal what South American countries were for Black Metal: these bands had something to offer that was wild and unfiltered. Incredible energy, dark atmospheres and a profound dedication; no superficiality, metal was more than just a way of life for them, unlike the Western ‘nice guys’, and not just something only for a Saturday night. Bands like Cenotaph, Shub Niggurath, R’lyeh and The Chasm brought a level of evil and darkness that was hardly found in any other Death metal in the early 90s.
With a couple of tapes circulating in the tape trading scene of the late 80s and early 90s, of which only ‘Where Death Takes Your Soul’ was officially released as a Mortuary demo, the band built quite a name for themselves in the international Death Metal underground. Not as big as the American and European Death Metal bands, but still, it was a band to be reckoned with. This was further cemented by the release of “Blackened Images” – originally released in 1990 on a cassette tape produced by the band themselves, but later picked up by a number of mainly small national labels and JL America for wider distribution.
At least, that was the plan. JL America, however, would go down in history as an unreliable label that had dealings with some dodgy characters. The band was still searching for their big breakthrough, but had pinned their hopes on the wrong labels. The next misstep was with Turbo Music, run by the notorious con artists/bootleggers and brothers Oliver and Roland Schaffelhuber, who are still active under various names including Metal Bastard Enterprises and, more recently, Steel Breaker Records. Previously, they had also run the neo-Nazi labels Skull Records and Streetrock Records. To complete the messy picture, JL America and Turbo Music (and the Schaffelhuber brothers’ other labels) licensed each other’s releases. In short, Mortuary’s rising star effectively stagnated at this point.
To avoid straying any further from the subject, the bottom line is this: Mortuary had a career full of missed opportunities, dubious labels, loads of bootlegs and reissues on odd labels (such as Sexy Chicken Records from China). That is a recipe for true cult status.
In 1995, a second album was released which certainly wasn’t bad, but had far less impact, partly because by 1995 Death Metal wasn’t really taken seriously anymore. The band split up not long after that and have since got back together and split up a few times, but ultimately nothing much happened until the ‘Death Won’t Leave The Throne’ 7” EP was released in 2012. A decent EP that largely captured the Mortuary vibe. However, things went quiet again after that.
Another ten years later, the band surprised us with a digital single, ‘Holy War’, and Iron Bonehead Productions re-released both albums, with the second album, ‘Shine Of The End’, even receiving its first-ever vinyl release. It’s possible that the early 2020s marked a fresh start for the band, because now, at last, we have new material in our hands. Although ‘Great Black Earth’ does open with the now five-year-old ‘Holy War’. That, however, shouldn’t spoil the fun, because although the unholy fire of ‘Blackened Images’ remains unrivalled thirty-six years on, this certainly doesn’t sound bad. A strong Deicide vibe still hangs over the tracks and fits in well with the bands that have been inspired by Death Metal of this ilk, and thus directly or indirectly by Moruary as well.
If you’re not yet familiar with Mortuary, either new or old, and you are into dark and diabolical Death Metal with influences from both 1985-era Thrash Metal and early Black Metal, then this is definitely worth checking out. Not much of the original formula has been changed, that means we’re still having a lot of old Slayer with Possessed, Morbid Angel, Slaughter and early Death in there, basically the same blend of things as bands such as Imprecation and Sadistic Intent.
Just one thing that bothers me, it is such a shame that this EP is released through a label that isn’t even able to produce a normal cover. I can live with the fact that the cover isn’t exactly spectacular, but having “FREEPIK” in the background is really rather sad. Skimping on a graphic designer is something Mortuary really doesn’t deserve, especially given the band’s history. Such a shame!
