Review Summary: A time when trolls were way cooler
The song of a long forgotten ghost is something of a cult classic. It’s like the Dopesmoker of ambient music. But first a few things about this unique artist.
If you’ve seen Mortiis, you know that he’s not your next door musician (Even if he lives next door, you expect him to sleep in a coffin or something!). This Norwegian obscurity is all about theatrics: Fake ears, fake nose and a lot of makeup. Theatrical, in the vein of Alice Cooper, Kiss or Marylin Manson mixed with a touch of Norse Mythology and AD&D.
Imagination is the key to this record.
First of all, imagine Norway in 1992. Black metal was a big underground music wave that got serious. People were killed, churches have been burnt, bands ended up in jail. Mortiis was a full time member of Emperor, contributing a lot in the songs for the demo and the debut album. Some say that the ambiance found “In The Nightside Eclipse” should be attributed to the wicked mind of Mortiis.
So what would any sane man do not to be involved in those dark times for heavy metal in Norway? Pack up his things and go to Sweden! There Mortiis wrote a demo of his own, which is completely different than anything he did in the recent past: no guitars, no drums, no vocals. Just a synth that imitated the sounds of various strings. I am sure that Burzum's cyclical hypnotic riffs had a huge influence on Mortiis. Whether it is a coincidence or not we'll never know, but Burzum's song “Tomheit”, released in 1994 although recorded in 1992, is also a dark repetitive keyboard song that drags for 14 minutes, similar to Mortiis instrumental songs. Even the name of Mortiis demo “The song of a long forgotten ghost” sounds similar to another Burzum song, “A lost forgotten sad spirit”.
Now imagine a 53 minute record with 3 simple melodies repeated again and again. And again. Sometimes they are followed by a drum beat or a single piano note. The melodies are pretty fine but nothing exquisite. If you listen closely, weird sounds pop up here and there. No one can say if they were recorded on purpose or they were made by mistake. In my mind they sound like screams.
The word you are looking here is minimalism. Minimalism in expression, minimalism in form. During the first 5 minutes, the whole music is revealed. But in the next 47 minutes you will witness the hypnotic effect that the repetition of the first part has on you. Imagine falling into a trance. When I listened to the demo for the first time, I couldn't believe that that’s just it! But, much to my surprise, I felt tempted to spin it once again. Up to this day, I’d say that its simplicity and eeriness make this demo so unique to my ears that I am obsessed with it.
But this is 2015, a time of modern multi-million productions and musical complexity. So why on earth I find myself going back to this demo that has been probably recorded in a room with a Casio synth? After all, I am sure that a lot of better dark wave/ ambient monotonous melancholic albums have been written in the past or since then. I have two explanations: 1) I am stressed by modern music and I look for very simple structured music. This demo is an extreme case of simple made music. 2) Some ***ing troll made a hypnotic spell out of this music and I’ve fallen right into its trap! Seriously now, I couldn't recommend anyone to listen to this demo, I bet you have a million better things to do. But I had to put down to words what I feel when I hear this oddity, in order to try to explain why I keep listening it.
Now, for the last time, imagine this. You walk in a forest, it’s getting late but you don’t care. It has been a while you are wandering aimlessly, maybe you are lost. But you don’t mind. You feel you are not alone, in a non physical way.
This is the soundtrack to these thoughts.
