Blood Mortized is a band that I was relatively familiar with before taking a listen to this record. I heard their "Bestial" EP, and while it didn't really set the world afire, it was still a solid collection of tracks that showed this band had plenty of potential to move up the proverbial ladder in today's death metal scene. The main reason for this is because these Swedes don't aspire to be the latest metal band to embrace the chainsaw-laden, d-beat-riddled worship (Not that I have a problem with these kinds of bands) style that has run rampant throughout not only Sweden, but the world over. Rather than brutalizing the listener with heavy, midpaced riffage akin to the old gods, or devastating the listener with some violent, punk-enraged music, Blood Mortized is out to mesmerize the listener with their songwriting and atmospheric qualities, and "The Key to a Black Heart" is a better record for this reasoning.
If there is a single band that Blood Mortized could be compared to, it would have to be Unleashed, mainly because the band's use of simple, yet effective riffage that is nothing more than a derivative thrash riff intertwined with death metal tremolos. "Doomsday Architect" and "To Murder a God" are definitely two of the more straightforward death metal tracks here, as they completely charge ahead with the Unleashed-inspired riffs and volatile vocals. Another accurate description would be to call them a less melodic Amon Amarth (sans the Viking lyrics too, of course), which isn't much of a surprise considering Anders Hansson (guitarist) is a former member of the melodeath titans. This record isn't without melody, though, but the driving force of the music isn't the melody, rather it's the riffs accompanied by melodic passages to evoke a solemn atmosphere, with "The Heretic Possession" and the title track being the best examples.
In addition to the Unleashed and Amon Amarth comparisons, these guys even go for the epic moments with the track "Only Blood Can Tell" which features clean guitars and anthem-like choruses. And to balance out the epic with the heavy, "Bringer of Eternal Death" is complete Bolt Thrower worship, as the track just plods along with low-tuned riffs and melodies that sound like they were transplanted from "The IVth Crusade." Blood Mortized really did a stellar job of standing out with "The Key to a Black Heart" and if they continue to tread along the path that they've carved out for themselves then they should have no problem in rising above the Entombed clones, well as long as they don't open their songs with an incredibly similar powerchord sequence from a certain song by the name of "Left Hand Path" (Yes, I'm talking about "Dead and Rotten").
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Highlights
"Only Blood Can Tell"
"To Murder a God"
"Bringer of Eternal Death"
Final Rating
4.25/5 or 85%.