MORTAL VISION “Mind Manipulation”

By Dr. Abner Mality

Some retro bands are focused like lasers on a very specific band’s sound. Or in some cases, even a specific album’s sound. For MORTAL VISION, they are devoted to recreating the death/thrash perfection that SEPULTURA created on their classic albums “Schizophrenia” and “Beneath the Remains”. Well, if you’re gonna knock off somebody’s style, knock off the best that you can.

These guys are from either Russia or Ukraine, I’m not sure which, but their hearts are in Brazil of the late 80’s. They have done a masterful job of recreating the style SEPULTURA had on the two aforementioned albums, which in the opinion of many (including yours truly) were their best efforts. The galloping chug riffs, the shifts in tempo, the barbaric but nimble drumming all bring to mind classic tracks from vintage SEPULTURA. The likes of the title track and “Apophenia” almost put chills down your spine with their fidelity to “Schizophrenia” and “Beneath the Remains”.

The one way that MORTAL VISION falls short is that their leads have none of the almost symphonic grandeur that Andreas Kisser summoned for his solos on those classics. The solos are serviceable but nowhere near that rarefied realm. Other than that, this is spot on. A couple of tracks like “Raw Poison” and “Possessed” have the more primitive and brutal force of old SODOM as well.

This is homage and tribute and should be looked at strictly in that fashion. But MORTAL VISION do that homage well and if you’re missing the old SEPULTURA sound, this comes highly recommended.

REDEFINING DARKNESS RECORDS

MORTAL VISION