morthound. mortology 1990-1996. 5cd boxset. raubbau raub-022
release date: 18.april 2014
barcode: 821272211327
black heavy-cardboard box including 8 page booklet
+ 5 cd's in black gatefold sleeves with copper print
raubbau goes about an ambitious enterprise with this extensive collection, not only re-releasing morthound's three seminal albums for cold meat industry, but also the sought-after debut cassette, all five exclusive compilation tracks known to man and ten unreleased tracks as well - the entire legacy of what was benny nilsen's dark musical past. these five discs cover the 6-year-lifespan of morthound and showcase its remarkable metamorphosis from an outlet for noisy juvenile experiments over eerie death industrial and refined dark ambient, via gothic-tinged songs and soundscapes to metal-infused tracks.
raubbau has always had a soft spot for artists from the small swedish industrial town of nyköping, like negru voda, deaf machine and the protagonist, and now here's benny nilsen, possibly the most productive among the lot. he started morthond (originally without the 'u') as a 15-year-old and released the 'death time' cassette on the cold meat industry sublabel sound source just a year later - a sought-after collectors item today. what followed then were three seminal cds for cmi (that have long been unavailable as well) on which nilsen kept reinventing the morthound style before he called it quits in 1996. he then continued to work under the 'hazard' moniker before taking to his actual name, releasing mostly on the british cult label touch. nilsen, having meanwhile relocated to berlin, is nowadays recognized as a leading artist in the area of field recordings and electronica with a sophisticated, academic approach.
even though morthound has long been put to rest, one should not underestimate its relevance, as all three cmi albums have had an enormous impact: 'this crying age' still sounds a great dark ambient album today, but its release was actually nothing less than a formative act for the genre; 'spindrift' with its lush atmospheres and vocals helped experimental music to break into a much wider scene (you would even hear morthound on goth dance floors at the time), and 'the goddess who could make the ugly world beautiful' with its heavy guitar riffs helped establish the mutual interest between the industrial and the underground metal scenes. morthound was deservedly regarded as one of the leading artists on cold meat industry in the label's heyday and also performed his music live at the time to great acclaim. it was about time someone made the effort to re-introduce this genre-defining - and genre-defying - classic swedish act in all its glorious entirety... that's mortology!
............................................................................................
morthond. death time. cd. raub-022.1
01. death time
02. mithril
03. fold up
04. my burning flesh
05. atmosphere
06. distance
07. anœsthetic
08. entertainment in the desert
09. amen
10. dwimordene
11. path of death
12. second gate
13. third gate
'death time' is 13 tracks of unlucky darkness, directly from the mind of a youthful musical talent, recorded in a pre-software era on minimal equipment, but treated to maximum effect. a bed of fragile almost-drones lines a set of outerworldly rattling, crashing and scraping sounds, and sometimes the listener is suprised by alluring melodies among all the bleakness ('death time', 'path of death'). spoken word samples ('mithril') and marches ('fold up') reference history - from the industrial revolution over totalitarian deterioration and the final stages of the cold war to the balkan conflict, while 'entertainment in the desert' dances with arabs. in the end, the sonic vortex of 'third gate' says it's all about death - if you dare.
01 - 09
made in the laboratory, industrial north 1991
originally released as c40 cassette on cold meat industry / sound source .1911. 1991
10 + 11
recorded in 1990
originally released on the cold meat industry compilation '2x6 the dimensions of a coffin' cmi-10 1991
12 + 13
made in the laboratory, industrial north 1990-91
originally released on cold meat industry / vuz records compilation 'in the butchers backyard' 1993
cmi.19 / vuz 04
re-mastered by bjnilsen, berlin december 2013
............................................................................................
morthond. this crying age. cd. raub-022.2
01. the age of crying
02. age of dreams
03. frames
04. glaciers of scandinavia
'this crying age' is an archetype of the dark ambient genre, conceived long before the term was used as a marketing tool. it moves slowly in four tracks that run for almost an hour combined and emanates an icy atmosphere, decidedly scandinavian, like endless forests in winter. the ticking of the clock opens the album like a merciless memento mori before the listener plunges into bleak atmospheres and threatening drones. underneath you can hear the lament of the damned, like in a medieval fantasy of purgatory, and the melody line in 'glaciers of scandinavia' does not proclaim salvation, but the eternal cycle of suffering. 'this crying age' convinces with its structured composition and surprisingly crisp production, real mood music.
recorded at barnsliga skivor studio in june 1991
indian flute by r.w.l
originally released as cmi.12 1991
re-mastered by bjnilsen, berlin december 2013
............................................................................................
morthound. spindrift. cd. raub-022.3
01. eternity ring
02. herb of grace
03. stairhead
04. riverine
05. sundance
06. echium
07. echium (guitar version)
08. shrivatsa
'spindrift' is an album of its own kind, an unlikely combination of atmospheric industrial on a lighter note with carefully used organic sounds and acoustic instruments. some tracks have a strong cinematic appeal, like 'eternity ring' or the almost 18-minute-long 'riverine', while others are actual songs - 'herb of grace' is a beautiful piece of chamber music with ethereal female vocals, 'stairhead' is nothing less than full-blown psychedelia, 'sundance' sounds like an intoxicated private celebration and 'echium' resonates with the hangover from collective madness - which returns in 'shrivatsa', ten minutes of pure spiritual bliss, complete with tender percussion sounds and flute melodies. an album like a short scandinavian summer, to be savoured on the spot.
01 - 06
produced and mixed at studio gängspö july 1992 by mårten kellerman and morthound
originally released as cmi.15 1992
vocals on 'herb of grace' by e. lindeborg after a poem by o. wilde
flute by r.w.l
guitar by morthound
07
previously unreleased
08
recorded 1992
originally released on cold meat industry compilation 'karmanik collection' cmi.20 1993
and cold spring compilation csr5cd 1994
flute by r.w.l
re-mastered by bjnilsen, berlin december 2013
............................................................................................
morthound. the goddess who could make the ugly world beautiful. cd. raub-022.4
01. canalizer
02. ridged dunes
03. hibernation
04. losing ground
05. fireflies
06. syzygy
07. whole end
'the goddess...' is the culmination of everything morthound, with dark space drones ('ridged dunes'), dystopian sound collages ('hibernation') and ethnic percussion ('szygy'). but what really puts the stamp on this album is the lead-heavy sluggish guitar playing on the other four tracks, making for an imbearably tense atmosphere of urban decay: 'canalizer' drowns everything in its reverberated guitar drone dirge, 'losing ground' emanates doom and dynamics at the same time, 'whole end' marries guitar riffs with martial beats and 'fireflies' is almost head-nodding electro thrash - such is the scope within just one 45 minute album, a classic in its own right.
produced & written by bjnilsen
engineer jouni havukainen
recorded, produced and mixed at re-enter salvation
originally released as cmi.26 1994
re-mastered by bjnilsen, berlin december 2013
............................................................................................
morthound. unleashed 1990-1996. cd. raub-022.5
01.cut/up/news
02.woodstock mayhem
03.unreleased II
04.dead mummy
05.down the hall
06.random
07.schatten
08.thundra
09.unleashed
nine tracks saved from eternal oblivion, rightfully called 'unleashed', because this is not for the weak of mind or the feeble-hearted. very industrial and noise-heavy, with ominous groans, piercing noises ('woodstock mayhem') and hellish samples ('dead mummy'). 'random' is just pure unadulterated darkness, 'cut/up/news' is just that and 'unleashed' will finish you off with its dismal melody.
a harrowing testament of isolation and alienation, surely the most intransigent piece of sound morthound has ever unleashed.
all material recorded through the years 1990-1996
gathered from cassettes, reel to reel, a-dat, dat, vhs
because of the nature, place and age of these original recordings, sound quality might be different
on each track.
re-mastered by bjnilsen, berlin december 2013
............................................................................................
discography:
as morthond
death time. tape. sound source / cold meat industry. 1991
this crying age. cd. cold meat industry. 1991
as morthound
spindrift. cd. cold meat industry. 1992
the goddess who could make the ugly world beautiful. cd. cold meat industry. 1994
as hazard
lech. cd. malignant records. 1996
north. cd. ash international. 1998
wood / field/bridge. lp+cd. ash international. 2000
wind. cd. ash international. 2001
light (w/ fennesz, biosphere). cd. touch. 2001
land. cd. touch. 2002
as bj nilsen
fade to white. cd. touch. 2004
hazard 06_12_03 (generator festival, konzerthaus wien). cd. touch. 2004
silverliner. cdr. kning disk. 2005
storm (w/ chris watson). cd. touch. 2006
víkinga brennivín (w/ stilluppsteypa). cd. helen scarsdale agency. 2005
s/t (w/ stilluppsteypa / milan sandbleistift). lp. punk kein rock. 2006
drykkjuvísur óhljódanna (w/ stilluppsteypa). cd. helen scarsdale agency. 2006
the short night. cd. touch. 2007
22' 22' (w/ z'ev). cd. ideal recordings. 2007
second childhood (w/ hildur guðnadóttir and stilluppsteypa). cd. quecksilber. 2007
passing out(w/ stilluppsteypa). cd. helen scarsdale agency. 2008
defeat. tape. ideal recordings. 2009
man from deep river (w/ stilluppsteypa). cd. editions mego. 2009
draught. tape. ash international. 2010
the invisible city. cd. touch. 2010
space finale (w/ stilluppsteypa). lp. editions mego. 2010
vinyl. lp. touch. 2011
big shadow montana (w/ stilluppsteypa). lp. helen scarsdale agency. 2011
góða nótt (w/ stilluppsteypa). lp. editions mego. 2012
eye of the microphone. cd. touch. 2013
nijmegen pulse (w/ anla courtis). cd. korm plastics. 2013
morthound / bjnilsen official websites:
www.bjnilsen.com
raubbau official websites:
www.raubbau.org &
www.facebook.com/raubbau.labeldistribution:
ant-zen. audio & visual arts. p.o. box 1257 • 93135 lappersdorf • germany
info@ant-zen.com •
www.ant-zen.com •
www.mailorder.ant-zen.com •
www.facebook.com/antzen.official
