Cult band MORTUARY DRAPE was formed in Italy in 1986 as a trio, including the long-standing/sole-remaining member, band founder and visionary Wildness Perversion. Highly inspired by the dark arts & combining early influences from bands such as MERCYFUL FATE and CELTIC FROST, MORTUARY DRAPE developed their own unique style, defining themselves as Black Occult Metal & releasing the demo “Necromancy” in 1987 which spread their name throughout the underground; though it was not until 1992 that their first official release surfaced, with “Into The Drape”.
This was followed by the debut full-length album, the classic “All The Witches Dance” in 1994. Since then MORTUARY DRAPE has been revered for their influential and pioneering work in the firm establishment of global Black Metal.
Returning following 2022’s mini album “Wisdom – Vibration – Repent”, which gave us a firm dose of what to expect after signing with Peaceville Records, the Italians unveil “Black Mirror”. An album that is not only a new dose of ritualistic blasphemy but also the quest to explore the abstract link that tethers the past and the present to find who we were in our previous lives.
“Black Mirror” is MORTUARY DRAPE’s sixth full-length studio album set for a November 3rd release, and presents a spellbinding, occult-draped journey featuring haunting passages and dark yet melodic vintage Metal mastery, bringing to mind acts such as MERCYFUL FATE with their eerie, classic metal-rooted compositions and atmospherics, expertly crafted and delivered with the band’s own distinguishable injection of wicked intent.
Lyrically the album centers on themes of magical rites, real events and spells that are in a parallel world that bind us to our past lives. We enter into this world of the parallel through the medium of Deja Vu. The phenomenon where images and actions that we seem to have already experienced resurface in our mind. The real mystery is to find out if they really belong to past lives or are, in fact, premonitions of what will happen next …
Wildness Perversion states: “Reflected in the black mirror lies down the countenance of thy restless death, lost into the oblivion, waiting for the unction, thy rattle breath, thou art shattered by the secret lost; the mistress of sorcerer only herself will be able to take thy spirit drowned in silence back to life, once she joined the nocturnal coven, conjuring for you the fading flowers spell, so that thou shan’t wander among the unburied…”
He continues: “We consider ‘Black Mirror’ an easier album to assimilate for the listener, while for us one of the most difficult in terms of composition and arrangements. It is another step of our personal path, we face different nuances in the Occult world, I can tell you that while writing the songs we had to put aside enough material that will soon be reworked for the next album.”
The album was recorded and mixed and mastered by Federico Pennazzato at TMH Studios in Alessandria, Italy with engineering coming from Pennazzato, DC, and Wildness Perversion and the artwork comes courtesy of Misanthropic Art.
“Black Mirror” track listing:
- Restless Death
- The Secret Lost
- Ritual Unction
- Drowned in Silence
- Into the Oblivion
- Rattle Breath
- Nocturnal Coven
- Mistress of Sorcerer
- The Unburied
- Fading Flowers Spell
- Black Mirror
MORTUARY DRAPE unveil an official video for their first single “Rattle Breath”, which you can watch below:
