Mortiis - Some Kind Of Heroin

“So you’re the only one who knows the secret, huh, underdog?” Sorry for the confusion, it’s the musical heroin messing around with my head. It’ll pass sooner or later, depends on when I switch to a track by another artist than this Norwegian four-piece. Or wait a minute; this is not really a Mortiis album, but a remix compilation of Mortiis’ past 2004 release “The Grudge”. And this little discovery kicked me off the chair instantly. I have to admit that I did expect an electronic-rock album spiced with dark and murky special effects, but after getting my room transformed into a German Goth-rave party cave by the help of the welcoming track “Underdog (Zombie Girl Remix)”, I couldn’t help becoming a little farfetched. But to be honest, the first track did fascinate me a little. It draws you in, makes you feel a part of the rave-scene in a comfortable way, like imagining a pureblood rock-enthusiast honestly saying that this actually sounds alright. Pretty much a good first impression, but let’s keep the trophies on the shelves a little longer. Who knows what we might get after a few more tracks of hardcore DJ blend versions of Havard Ellefsen (and co.’s) compositions.

Waiting with defining the whole sound and hype of the album, I’d like to point a worthwhile detail, namely the curious repetition of track titles in the track listing. First of all, “Some Kind of Heroin” includes a whooping four remixes of the song “The Grudge”, three remixes of the song “Gibber” and lastly two of each of the songs “Broken Skin”, “Way Too Wicked” and “The Worst in Me”. In between, there’s luckily some unique tracks like the introduction track, a heavily technofied, Nine Inch Nails inspired third track (“Twist the Knife (Gibbering Mix)” and finally the eight track “Decadent and Desperate (Thera**** Mix)”, a pretty catching, up-beat electronic rock song resembling something similar to a little dried out Marilyn Manson song. And these “outsiders” are actually the only tracks really worth mentioning. It’s harsh, but all the repeated tracks on the album are simply way too electronic to draw out any interest. In a way, it’s like falling asleep during Moulin Rouge; you wake up because you thought you heard something funny, only to discover that they’re still singing the same, fucking never-ending medley, just this time it’s without the funny, bearded dwarf musician.

All in all, I won’t directly call “Some Kind of Heroin” uninteresting and uninspired, since it is in fact just a bunch of remixes by different European / American discus throwers, so Mortiis himself can’t really take any of the blame for the less impressing tracks on the album, even though he is proud of everyone of them. I just wish he’d let the Zombie Girl DJ remix all of the tracks and cut out the loops, since “Underdog” just defines what the album could have become. In the end, this release does not really cut deeply enough to reach anything. An album with sixteen different tracks simply has to offer more than merely one to two ear catchers. The sound just seems to die out from track two, then hype a little and then admit its defeat, crawling back into its lair to do some more soul-searching. “Some Kind of Heroin” could have been a lot better, especially with the line-up of DJs, who are seemingly quite acknowledged throughout the industrial scenes, like Raymond Watts aka “PIG”, who has toured with Nine Inch Nails, one of Mortiis’ inspirations. Sadly, the album simply just doesn’t break through the ice even though it had a few updrafts. [4]

Download:Underdog (Zombie Girl), Twist the Knife (Gibbering Mix), Decadent and Desperate (Thera**** Mix)

For the fans of:Nine Inch Nails, German gothic rave parties.

Listen:http://myspace.com/somekindofheroin”>MySpace>

Release Date 04.16.2007

Earache Records

Provided by Target ApS