Review Summary: Exquisitely vivid and frightening tales from Hell, lost in the endless pages of history.
There are many bands throughout history who need no introduction to a musically inclined and interested audience; Peru's Mortem are most likely not one of them. On the other hand, if you live in their native country and listen to death metal in any capacity, you most likely have at least heard of them, if not actively listen to or champion their music. Mortem were formed in Lima, Peru in 1986. The band went through numerous lineup changes over the years, and released several low-circulation yet highly celebrated demos, and their debut album
Demon Tales was released in 1995. The band returned in 1998 to unleash
The Devil Speaks in Tongues.
The album fades in with pounding drums and otherworldly wailing guitars. We then hear some chanting before a low, demonic voice proclaims, "Fiat Obscuritas." This single Latin phrase reveals Mortem's intention for the album we are about to endure: "Let there be darkness." And darkness there truly was. Musically speaking, the majority of this album is mid- to fast-paced death metal with a reasonable amount of energy. The subject matter of the music, however, is about as dark as it gets: Demonic possessions, unexplainable posthumous phenomena, and the physical sights and sounds of Hell itself.
The actual existence of a Heaven, Hell, or any type of afterlife occurences one would happen to experience continues to be a highly-debated and mystifying topic to this day. While millions of people swear their existence is real, science has yet to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they actually do, or don't exist. This sense of mystery has not only
not prevented metal artists from successfully writing music about what it may be like to traverse Hell, it has actively aided the metal scene in its flourishing and thus garnered many fans of varying levels of interest. While metal music dealing with the existence of Heaven or (usually) Hell may seem corny or polarizing to some, many fans have found a piece of their existential home in this very music.
The sounds found on
The Devil Speaks in Tongues should bring joy to a great number of the metal, and more specifically death metal fans referenced above. Many will hear significant Morbid Angel, Possessed and Sadistic Intent influences very quickly. For the most part, the songs are unmistakably death metal pieces, but with the dark DNA of black metal and a dash of furious thrash metal energy. "Uma Head of the Witch" and "Posthumous Magic," for example, feature guitar work and a riff makeup similar to that of Trey Azagthoth. While these comparisons can be drawn, they are undoubtedly a separate entity altogether; Sandro Garcia and Mortem founder, vocalist and guitarist Fernan Nebiros appear to have opted for a more organic, and at times frenzied approach to riff-writing, and it absolutely shines throughout. The drumming of Jaime Garcia, while not ostensibly flashy or overbearing at any point, is fairly calculated and incredibly efficient. The basswork of Juan C. Muro is perfectly audible and sets the framework with ease.
Even with the majority of the aspects of the music being at least excellent, Nebiros' vocals throughout the duration almost entirely steal the show; they are the violently infected growls of the damned. The frantic, corrupted wailings of the unsaved. Vocal sections like the uncanny, possibly possessed growls in the chorus of the title track and the tortured wails in "Summoned to Hell" will evoke twisted shrieks of joy from even the most seasoned death metal listeners. Now this is not overproduced death metal by any means, but it does appear to have been very competently and effectively mixed; all instruments and vocals are audible and at no point really drown any of the others out. If you're looking for a death metal album that sounds as if performed by seasoned professionals with nothing but instruments and an undying hellish fire in their souls, look no further.
The only real negative that I can even muster for the purpose of not totally lionizing the band and album is that, while well-done in almost every sense, and being superbly interesting and listenable death metal, it is not expressly
original. As drawn out previously, there is no shortage of thrashy, Hell-themed metal and death metal at this point in history. We had heard Seven Churches and Altars of Madness years before, and while this album is its own beast, the influences are fairly unmistakable. However, it is important to take into account that this album came out in 1998. There is a very healthy amount of death metal history between 1998 and the present which was potentially influenced by Mortem and this very work as well.
While the music contained herein was conceived several years after what was generally considered to be the renaissance of death metal, it does not hinder the entire experience from being a vivid walk through Hell, death and occult rituals.
The Devil Speaks in Tongues, for what it sets out to accomplish, is easily one of the most effective, and for that matter, entertaining death metal albums I have ever heard. Listeners may find joy or terror in these recordings, or a combination of the two, but an audience seeking a death metal album untouched by outside influence that delivers on the basic premises of death metal itself will surely be exceptionally satisfied with this release. For many of us music fans, there is a never-ending search to unearth an artist, band, or album that is not well-known, that delivers everything we want to hear. I believe that after hearing this death metal masterwork, this eternal search, at least for the time being, will have been a success and we can revel in absolute madness once again.
