Mortifix - Reborn Through Hatred
by James

The reason I hate writing reviews is that I do not want to sound like a Rolling Stone wannabe when I finish. I do not want to talk about the complex guitar riffs and intricate time changes the band employed in their masterful creation, because I do not know anything about all that shit. All I know is how an album makes me feel inside when I listen to it and transferring that to paper is one hard sonuvabitch to pull off. When I popped "Mortifix - Reborn Through Hatred" into my CD player, I had no idea how I would feel about it. I am not a big Death Metal fan to begin with and this is the first Death Metal album I have listened to from start to finish. I listened, though, from I Am Brutality through Dominion and when it was over…I listened, again.

The pure power of this CD simply can not be ignored by someone like me who truly lives for heavy music. Songs like Reborn Through Hatred and Pain Millennia creep into my head and make me just want to start thrashing around in my living room like a god damn Tasmanian devil looking for anything to slam into. I swear to god, I was driving around and almost hit the guy next to me. Don't get me wrong, it is not that the album makes me want to hurt, maim or kill so much as it sends your adrenaline into overdrive and you have to release that energy. I now understand completely why mosh pits at Death Metal shows are so insane and violent.

My personal favorite song is Anger and Hate, which has a slow, groovy sound that completely caught me off-guard the first time I heard it. After sitting and reading the lyrics to Anger and Hate, it is on my list of all-time great songs I have ever heard. I am a big believer that anger and hate are two things that will tear a person apart if they can not keep themselves in check, and that is the same message I hear in this song. Also, I love the way Shawn Cooley wrote the lyrics, because if you aren't looking for it, you might miss that metaphor. I know I did not catch on until halfway through the song, but, once I did, a big smile crossed my face. The message is both brutally obvious and dangerously subtle all at the same time, so you will either get it right away or not at all. As a wannabe songwriter/poet myself, I respect someone who can bring the message out without bashing you in the head with it.

Point blank, if you do not like this CD, regardless of whether you are a Death Metal fan or not, then you just do not like heavy music. I play this CD for people who have been known to hate Cannibal Corpse and they love it instantly. I let a friend borrow it and he would not give the fucker back. If you hear Reborn Through Hatred and don't like it, then you need to give it up and go listen to some Backstreet Boys shit, because this is what Metal is all about. As for me, I want to thank Mortifix for opening my eyes and showing me that everything I thought I knew about Death Metal is wrong. THIS IS SEVERE METAL!!