Mortal Scepter – As Time Sharpens The Sentence

Just a year after putting out a killer black/thrash demo, France’s Mortal Scepter has signed with Unspeakable Axe Records to release their first EP, entitled “As Time Sharpens The Sentence”. This EP is an excellent embodiment of what makes this dark style of thrash great, as it delivers both riffs and atmosphere with incredible consistency. Take the title song for example, where Mortal Scepter makes use of the trademark black/thrash ride cymbal abuse as they unleash crawling riffs that make significant use of the fretboard. Shortly after this, the first verse begins, and the riff underneath is so potent that you almost forget that the vocalist is singing. This is quite possibly the most enticing section of the entire record simply because the riff is so active, and perfectly compliments the insanity of the band’s vocal approach.

As you might imagine, the band’s singer, offers a more brutal take with his snarls. Paying great homage to early black metal, his singing is raspy and cavernous, and with the right amount of effort from the listener, can occasionally be understood. He also incorporates his take on those Schmier-esque high-pitched screams on more than a few occasions. Even though his voice is very serviceable, it truly is the music that makes “As Time Sharpens The Sentence” so great. A song like “Execution Symphony” shows the band firing on all cylinders; the double bass that opens the track is immensely powerful, and is the driving force of this track, which spends most of its time firing off uptempo riffs. Much to the delight of 4 and 5-stringers everywhere, this song also has a superb bass presence; Mortal Scepter’s bass player is unleashing all sorts of interesting lines that stand out even amongst the madness of the guitars. This track as a whole exemplifies the EP: fantastic performances all around with maniacal riffs and an insanely tight rhythm section. Though the band makes use of many black/thrash tropes, they don’t rely on any one in particular, and instead look to great songwriting to keep you coming back to this release.

And then there’s the Destruction cover. It is my opinion that “Sentence of Death” is the best black/thrash release in history, and “Total Desaster” is also deserving of the title of best black/thrash song ever. The reality is, nobody is going to do this song justice. That’s not a shot at Mortal Scepter; the simple fact is that it is impossible to recapture the energy that Destruction had on that original recording. But Mortal Scepter does a pretty decent job. This style of music has certainly evolved since 1984, and the band manages to make “Total Desaster” sound more like one of their songs than you might otherwise expect. 

“As Time Sharpens The Sentence” is an impressive offering of black/thrash that shows Mortal Scepter can stand up against any band in the subgenre. They’ve nailed the production on this EP, and the songwriting is also strong (though I wouldn’t mind seeing the band taking a stab at shorter, more concise songs). Overall, this release is yet another must-own from Unspeakable Axe Records!

Be sure to check out and like Mortal Scepter on Facebook!

Highlights

"As Time Sharpens The Sentence"

"Execution Symphony"

Final Rating

4.3/5 or 86%. 

Written by Scott

Mortal Scepter – Demo

If there’s one thing the world needs more of, it’s blackened thrash metal. There is something incredibly satisfying about hearing thrash that is incredibly primal and evil in nature. For that reason, I get really excited to hear from bands like Mortal Scepter, who play this style of thrash in the way it was meant to be done. The band’s 4-track demo is their first release, and is an absolutely wicked offering of depraved thrash metal for anyone who enjoys bands like Witchtrap, or even the first Destruction EP. Interestingly, the opening track, “Satan’s Arrival”, goes in a bit of a different direction. Make no mistake, it is firmly rooted in blackened thrash, but it also takes a ton of influence from the guitar playing of Mike Scaccia of Rigor Mortis. Tremolo-picked leads are abundant throughout this track, and they make it incredibly memorable. Despite being an instrumental, “Satan’s Arrival” is always offering up something interesting. This song sets the bar high, and while the rest of the demo is fantastic, “Satan’s Arrival” is definitely the highlight.

The other three songs exemplify what makes this style of music great. If early thrash metal can be thought of as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with more speed, then blackened thrash metal can be thought of as the same but with more Satan. Seriously, some of the riffs on this record sound like amped up long-lost Grim Reaper riffs (see: “Nuclear Armageddon”). To be fair to Mortal Scepter, they also thrash out pretty hard at times. “Violent Revenge” is the most ripping track on this demo, as it is a relentless assault of furious riffs. The aggression of these songs is amplified by the general noisiness of the production. The drums in particular really add to the atmosphere. They’re loud, and little to no attempt has been made to balance out the cymbals with the rest of the instruments. Often times, this can really hurt an album, but in Mortal Scepter’s case, it works to their advantage. This is particularly noticeable when the ride cymbal gets going, and is even better when the band slows down a bit and uses the ride to create an uneasy feeling (such as the one at the 2:35 mark of "Violent Revenge". This propensity towards noise largely drowns out the bass playing, but this album is still incredibly chaotic even without enough low end. The vocals on this demo are of the harsher variety. Though they don’t quite cross over into full-on black metal, they are definitely quite close.

On the whole, this is one impressive demo. It seems like, on average, bands playing this style of music are just better at writing riffs. There isn’t a single riff on this demo that isn’t going to cause some mayhem. While some may see the lyrical approach towards Satan as a bit cliché or tired at this point, it really adds to the whole product for me. Black/thrash is a style of music that is meant to be fun, and it does that through sounding like pure evil. Mortal Scepter embody the spirit of evil, and that’s why this demo is so effective.

Be sure to check out and like Mortal Scepter on Facebook!

Highlights

"Satan's Arrival"

"Nuclear Armageddon"

Final Rating

4.4/5 or 88%. 

Written by Scott