MORTIIS – The Great Corrupter

One of my favorite Norwegian artists in the shape and form of Mortiis is about to unleash this rather harsh and punishing 28-track remix compilation upon the unsuspecting craphole masses and I might as well tell you right here and now that the result is pretty damn decent. Essentially a set of remixes of last year’s excellent "The Great Deceiver" album, renowned and legendary acts and artists such as Manes, Chris Vrenna, In Slaughter Natives, Wumpscut, Merzbow, and Deutsch Nepal (just to list a few examples) have all contributed to this opus, which should tell you something about the quality of it. Given that we are talking about so many tracks and that a long line of different outfits and artists have remixed them, it is not surprising that the quality of the tunes vary a bit throughout the disc. Not every cut is memorable or destined for greatness, but the majority of them are definitely worth investing time in.

Unlike the "Some Kind of Heroin" remix album, "The Great Corrupter" has more depth and substance to it not to mention that it is more solid and entertaining than the 2007 effort. There is more variety to the proceedings this time as well. The great thing about "The Great Corrupter" is that the essence and quality of the Mortiis core material remains intact throughout, which is to say that the Mortiis vibe and sound shine through even though the tunes have been tweaked, re-worked, and manipulated into something strange and otherworldly. Considering that the last few Mortiis releases have been rather raw and intense to some extent, it is no surprise that many of these remixes are also pretty hard-hitting and vicious, but, like I said, there is also a lot of diversity in play, so expect a few surprises here and there. Of particular note are the excellent "Sins of Mine" (Apoptygma Berzerk), "Scalding the Burnt" (FLESH), "Road to Ruin" (Axegrinder", and "Hard to Believe" (Rhys Fulber – Extended Version), but the real gems of this cool electro-industrial compilation are "The Shining Lamp of God" (Chris Vrenna Mix), "Demons Are Back" (Chris Vrenna Mix), and "Too Little Too Late" (Output/Electronics). Superb renditions and well-worth the price of the album alone!

"The Great Corrupter" is recommended listening if you enjoy electro/industrial/darkwave/dark ambient music. Head on over to the Mortiis Bandcamp website and check it out.

http://downloadmusic.mortiis.com/album/mortiis-the-great-corrupter