Review MORTUARY DRAPE ‘Wisdom – Vibration – Repent’ – EP

Italian metal outfit Mortuary Drape might have been ahead of the curve when they started their journey into extreme metal in the mid ‘80s. At least they belong to the pioneers when it comes to European death- and black metal.

Driven by main man Wildness Perversion the band premiered in 1994 with ‘All the Witches Dance’ and released albums on a more or less regular base until 2004. ‘Buried in Time’ was the band’s fourth album and it seemed like the title being an omen. They Italian voice of death metal became calmer, and it took ten years before new longplayer called ‘Spiritual Independence’ has been launched. Another eight years later and after having inked a deal with Peaceville Records, Mortuary Drape returns with new material. ‘Wisdom – Vibration – Repent’ is the title of a new EP.

The new mini album features five songs of which four are own new tracks. ‘Nightmare Be Thy Name’ is the fifth song, a well-done cover version of the iconic Mercyful Fate hymn. One of the reasons why this track ended up on the record is because the band has and had an influence on Mortuary Drape’s sound. The band isn’t rooted in pure death metal, following neither the American death metal sound nor the Scandinavian blend. Instead, bands like Mercyful Fate and Celtic Frost had an impact on the misanthropic and gloomy metal penned by Wildness Perversion and bandmates. Enriched with an occult factor too, the band plays metal that is harsher than usual heavy metal and at the same time built a lot on the sound of tradition metal. The band developed their own interpretation of blackened metal that covers more than one genre.

‘Wisdom – Vibration – Repent’ is the return of a veteran band. This mini album offers oldschool metal that reminds of the early days of a genre and at the same time is anchored in the today. ‘Wisdom – Vibration – Repent’ = Italian heat fueled by hellfire.