We asked Norwegian dungeon synth and metal legend Mortiis to select his top 5 favorite songs he’s been a part of—excluding his own solo work. Dive into these handpicked tracks and be sure to catch Mortiis on his US tour this fall. See dates and locations below.
Apoptygma Berzerk “Maze” – Backing Vocals
We were still rehearsing at this old abandoned train station in the country side, when Stephan Groth asked if I wanted to do backing vocals for a song on the new album he was working on (You and Me Against the World). Stephan had done some backing vocals on my album The Grudge, so it was payback time.
Ramones Cover Song
I wish I could say a lot more about this, but I was asked not to reveal too much, but what I can say is, I’ve done vocal contributions to a Ramones tribute album, produced by Marc Urselli, who I have known for quite a few years. It will be released by Magnetic Eye Records early next year.
I’ve been a Ramones fan for a number of years, so when I was asked if I wanted to contribute vocals to an upcoming Ramones tribute album, I wasn’t going to say no to that. Of course, not without trepidation. Ramones is one of those bands, where it’s so easy to commit sacrilege and ruin an old classic. I think I did a pretty good job. It’s a collab with another band that did all the music and also vocals. I wish I could say more! (laughs)
Death SS Tribute/Cover “In the Darkness” with The Mugshots
Death SS (short for In Death of Steve Silvester) is a proto-black metal band from Italy, formed in 1977, and as black metal kids back in the early 90s, in the pre-internet era, they were one of those incredibly fascinating and obscure bands you knew next to nothing about. In the years that followed, I was able to slowly build a collection of their Italian-only releases. Years later, when Mickey E. Vil from The Mugshots asked if I wanted to collaborate on a cover, for a Death SS tribute, there was no question about it, of course, I wanted to do it. I still think a Mortiis and Death SS show would have been killer, too!
SCUM “Speaking in Tongues”
SCUM started as a project involving several Norwegian black metal musicians and Casey Chaos (from AMEN at the time). Several musicians fell off the project, myself included. I think Casey wanted me on because he liked my music, but eventually they couldn’t find a good place for me. I don’t think the others wanted my sort of input, and that’s okay. I did do some backing vocals on the album and lead vocals on this track called “Speaking in Tongues” that I also wrote the lyrics for. It went unreleased for many years, until Samoth (guitar) found it and emailed me about it. It’s on my Bandcamp, but nowhere else I think. It’s a sort of bittersweet memory, but a good song, so I feel it deserves a mention.
Girls Under Glass “Tainted”
This song was recorded a long time ago, around the same time as the Apoptygma Berzerk song above. While we were rehearsing at the abandoned train station, we’d be recording vocals in an old shower cabinet. I had the lyrics sitting around, since an unknown amount of years back. Volker from Girls Under Glass had started another project, and I had known him a few years prior to that. He asked me if I wanted to contribute some vocals to a song they had. I think the whole thing was sort of improvised during a vocal recording session or two. For years nothing happened with the song, except an earlier version of it appeared on a comp CD. Then, not too long ago, it was featured in a re-mixed version, with my original vocals, on the new Girls Under Glass album, Backdraft, which I thought was really cool.
MORTIIS (North American Tour Dates):
09/04: Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery*
09/05: Clifton, NJ @ Dingbatz*
09/06: Boston, MA @ Sonia*
09/07: Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie*
09/08: New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge*
09/09: Pittsburgh, PA @ Preserving Underground*
09/10: Detroit, MI @ The Sanctuary*
09/11: Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s*
09/12: St. Paul, MN @ White Rock Lounge*
09/13: Lincoln, NE @ 1867 Bar*
09/14: Denver, CO @ The Oriental*^#
09/17: Seattle, WA @ El Corazon*^
09/18: Eugene, OR @ John Henry’s^
09/19: San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge^
09/20: San Diego, CA @ Brick by Brick^
09/21: Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room^
09/24: Haltom City, TX @ Haltom Theater^
09/25: Austin, TX @ Come and Take It Live^
09/26: Houston, TX @ Black Magic^
09/27: New Orleans, LA @ The Goat^
09/28: Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade (Altar)^
* w/ Sombre Arcane ^ w/ Malfet # w/ Fogweaver
