MORTAL TERROR
Creating Destruction
Unholy Fire Records Hannover
This German thrash metal band formed in 1986, and is influenced by the same artists who influenced many bands who circulated the underground tape trade and appeared in zines the world over. Metallica, Slayer and Voivod are their most prominent influences but instead of becoming another clone band they established their own identity. This is likely why they remained a unit for three decades and continue to release material. Between 1987 and 1993 they released demos at a rate of about one per year. Their complete succession of demos is Humour Is A Matter Of Taste (1987), Guts And Diseases (1988), United Nations (1989) The Functional Autonomy Of Motives (1991), The Cognitive Triad (1992) and Idiosyncratic (1993). From 1995 onward the band released a steady amount of full lengths: The Evolving Self And Posthuman (1995), A Strange Harvest (1998), Graveyard Anthems For Unhappy Teenagers (2001), We Set Your Thoughts On Fire (2003) and We Are The Damned (2010). It makes me wonder why I hadn’t heard of this band sooner and how many more German bands I missed out on in the glorious eighties. Mortal Terror are seasoned, professional musicians who thankfully rejected copying the American “big four”. I got the impression that Creating Destruction is no exercise in nostalgia as it reminded me of when bands could readily be told apart. Sodom had always been my band of choice as they most differed from all other German bands. Mortal Terror have come close to them in that regard. Funeral March as an intro takes its time building in energy before Creating Destruction gets underway. Too Old To Die Young does a fine job maintaining the fire that fueled classic thrash, musically and lyrically. Accompanying its Motorhead-like vibe is unapologetic statement that the band choose their own means of expression, something I could relate to easily enough. The guitars in Speed Demon, The Beast Takes Control, Violent Years and Spit You Out are inventive, driven, menacingm energetic and capture that old school spirit without additional effort. This really is an album I would have appreciated in my younger years, and I strongly recommend it as Mortal Terror stick to their guns and won't disappoint. -Dave Wolff
Track list:
1. Funeral March (Intro)
2. Too Old To Die Young
3. Speed Demon
4. Death Zone
5. The Beast Takes Control
6. Creating Destruction
7. Violent Years
8. Spit You Out
9. Mortal Terror
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