Cool Mortification

Krabathor are pretty much Czechia’s answer to the global death metal call, and have been since the mid-1980s. Central Europe may be experiencing a revival of ritualist black metal with the new found fame of Master’s Hammer and Root, but Czechia is not the first country that comes to mind when one thinks of death metal. Time to rectify that by looking at Krabathor’s classic of 1993: ‘Cool Mortification’.

I don’t know what happened between the release of this and their debut LP ‘Only Our Death is Welcome…’ (1992), but it fucking worked. ‘Cool Mortification’ takes the building blocks of late 80s thrash and works them into an early death metal framework. So far, so boring. But with these simple building blocks they have utilised the ambitious sense of the epic common to heavy metal a decade prior and created something more than the sum of its parts. I am reminded of Megadeth’s ‘Rust in Peace’ as an album that seems to operate in a similar way.

The production is thin, but not underwhelmingly so. Whatever sacrifices had to be made in terms of the power of this record are made up for in precision; as each riff, guitar lead, drum fill and solo are all crystal clear. And this is the true strength of this album. No, it’s not a grand new manifesto for the direction of death metal like Demilich’s ‘Nespithe’ released the same year, it’s more a consolidation of ideas found within thrashy death metal and a reminder of what it can achieve when enough creative attention is paid to the art of riffcraft, structure, tension and release.

Vocals are an animalistic howl, grating and strained. But it somehow works with the urgency of this music, which operates at a fast thrash metal pace. This album is like a lesson plan in how to construct music through architecture of riffs as opposed to picking a key and writing a verse and chorus. Each track will introduce a riff, vary it in some way before working through a few iterations, it will then break said riff down, either through additional layers, or through a tempo change. Krabathor will then use this deconstruction to build anew, creating drama and tension before the ultimate resolution. The opening riff may then be visited again, and is given new meaning in the light of the revelations just passed. There are many variations on this simple technique, not just on this album but in much death metal of the time. But ‘Cool Mortification’, although not the most original or powerful release of 1993, is faultless in its execution and a joy to behold.

This release accentuates certain aspects that death metal was experimenting with at the time. Baring in mind that 1993 was both the peak of the genre, but also the beginning of the end for death metal’s premiership at the top of metal food chain. Some would argue that ‘Cool Mortification’ is also a rehash of well-trodden ground, but I believe ‘perfecting’ would be a more appropriate adjective. It’s a delicate balancing act that utilises tried and tested techniques and points them in a forward-looking direction through intelligent compositions and precise musicianship and should feature in any best-of-1993 list.

Originally published at Hate Meditations

Cool Mortification is the 2nd full length effort from Czech butchers Krabathor, and a steady improvement over the debut Only Our Death is Welcome... Venturing further into the 'pure' death metal territory that had been laid out by bands like Death and Autopsy years prior, there is simply something to the compositions of this recording that make them endure more than the rest of the band's catalog. The album's not extremely technical, nor are there a load of brazen melodies or distinctions; but despite its blunt simplicity, the traces of thrash that remain and dark atmosphere of the recording combine for what deserves at least the status of a minor cult classic. It was hardly about to blow your mind if you'd been exposed to the Slowly We Rots, Mental Funerals, Scream Bloody Gores or Consuming Impulses of the world, but it's consistent throughout the 8 core pieces of the original album (I could give or take the industrial remix bonus track).

"Faces Under the Ice" opens with a morbidly thrashing rhythm, and you'll notice immediately that the band has undergone a slight change in the guitar tone. There was a single lineup change for this album, with 'Martin' joining Krystof on the guitar, replacing 'Hire' from the previous. Here the notes sound crisper, less bludgeoning than the last album, but the band has compensated with an increased bass presence, and you can finally hear Bruno plodding along with a cool distorted tone. This is a creepy track, especially when the broiling synth-line appears before the excellent melodic death/thrash bridge. "In the Blazing River" is also quite good, a rolling storm of muted melancholy that benefits greatly from the tight drumming, in particular the fills behind the opening riffs. At around 1:30 the song reaches a morbid, clinical thrash riff that kicks serious ass despite its understatedness. "Evil Corners of Mind" briefly resounds with a quitely screaming synth line and deep drums that transform into a choppy barrage of chords, and there's a disjointed groove to the verse which works well beneath Petr's gutturals and the squealing of the guitar lines. The bass gets a little wild in the bridge, and the solos are quite claustrophobic and evil. "The Loop" features an excellent intro section with synths brimming along clean guitars, compelling the listener through a very downtrodden, lush atmosphere before the meat of the guitars begins to squeeze its way through the grinder. Excellent fucking song!

"Without the Following Dawn" again dominates, thanks to the great bass haunting the resonant chords of the intro, and a riff that reminds me slightly of "Among the Living" from Anthrax. But it gets a lot more interesting, and sinister thanks to Bruno giving a four string freakout the likes of which simply didn't happen on the debut. "Forget the Gods" rivals the epic "Preparing Your End" from Only Our Death is Welcome..., but this time it's simply better, a slowly moving journey through almost glacial, choppy brutal death rhythms, with a lot of added reverb to the vocals that make them all the more tormenting. "Absence of Life" is another churning track, but the wailing, atmospheric leads of the bridge make up for what seems a fairly standard pace for the entire environment of Cool Mortification. The final track "Temporary Being of Insignificancy", an instrumental, begins with perhaps the most beautiful moment on any Krabathor album, a lush garden of synth sound that welcomes Bruno's popping, thudding momentum and a bleeding stream of guitar melody over a somber set of writhing, thrashing chords. Seriously, the song stole my breath away and I wondered if Krabathor would be capable of repeating such a graceful aesthetic in the future. The "Absence of Mind Mix" of "Absence of Life" hardly feels worth it, one of those early industrial death metal experiments that could barely give Fear Factory a run for their money, but to be fair, it's only a bonus track.

Cool Mortification is in my opinion the best album from Krabathor, and certainly the first I would reach for when in need of a Czech death fix. Armored by both nostalgia and atmosphere, it's a great album to spin when you're in need of those early years of wonderment within the genre, easily on par with a lot of the USDM coming out in the first half of the 90s. Brooding, hypnotic, and never in a rush to get anywhere, this is one you can soak up while you're down in your catacomb, performing diabolic experiments in science or just taking a lot drag off a fat joint. You may just want to stop the album before the remix.

Highlights: Faces Under the Ice, In the Blazing River, The Loop, Without the Following Dawn, Temporary Being of Insignificancy

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Almost anytime I had found out about a band from the Czech Republic I could be almost positive about the chance it would be top quality death/grind. 95 percent of all bands I have listened to from there have been impressive to say the least. Krabathor may have been the band who set the standards. Do they breed death/grind musicians purposely over there? I could go crazy naming off all of the bands from that country who will rip your skull from your shoulders with the intensity, brutality, and most importantly THE TALENT that is overflowing from the Czech Republic metal community.

With that said, I will talk a bit about 'Krabathor - Cool Mortification'. This sophmore release is some of the best 'traditional' or as some would say 'old school' death metal ever recorded. The first album "Only Our Death Is Welcome" is a bit more raw sounding and a little faster also, but on "Cool Mortification" they uped the dose up a notch by adding better quality riffs, especially in the rhythm guitar underlying the superb solo work. There is also an awesome instrumental type intro to track 4 "The Loop" that is very impressive. This album is a bit chunkier, riffs slower paced but equally as devestating if not more powerful than their faster material.

Being from Florida, and having seen the many great death metal bands from this era rise (and fall in many cases), I am used to a different sound when I think old school death metal, and this band having a different sound than the bands I grew up with and supported 15 years ago, and having only heard newer krabathor, and the first album, I somehow completely overlooked this shining gem. I'm not sure if this album has been re-released, or if it is long out of print, but if you can get your hands on this album, buy it immediately.

I give this album 98 percent only because an album would have to be other worldly for me to give it 100. This is the highest rating I will probably ever give an album of any sort unless I am completely mindfucked from the musicianship.