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Mortiis
Some Kind of Heroin

Earache Records

Posted: Friday, June 22, 2007
By: Ilker Yücel
Editor

While Projekt Records is content to unveil the reissues of Mortiis' first era recordings, which were mainly instrumentals in the realm of medieval fantasy, his latest industrial rock incarnation continues along with Some Kind of Heroin. Featuring remixes of tracks from his last album, The Grudge, and featuring a slew of prominent figures in the electro/industrial underground, Some Kind of Heroin does its best to present the listener with a wide range of alternate interpretations of Mortiis' music. As with any remix album or compilation, the results are varied, and rarely is every track a surefire hit.

Beginning with Zombie Girl's remix of "Underdog," a track from the Decadent & Desperate single, the song sets the stage for the whole album. As can be expected from Sebastian R. Komor, the remix is excellent for extended play on the dance floor, yet retaining a gritty edge becoming Mortiis' style of industrial rock. From here, several remixes manage to take elements of the original and infuse them with the standard danceable treatment, such as in Velvet Acid Christ's remix of "Gibber" and Funker Vogt's take on "Broken Skin." In fact, it is these two tracks that prove to be the weakest of the lot, not only doing very little with the source material, but also displaying the shortcomings of both artists; they sound so much like their own material that their presence seems more redundant than anything. Then there are other mixes that don't stray too dramatically from the original sources, like the Absinthium mix of "Way Too Wicked" and Mental Siege's mix of "The Grudge," but in staying true to the original versions, those mixes manage to belt out just as much fury and energy as the original songs.

Credit should be given to The Kovenant for their Rape, Dope, and the American Way mix of "Way Too Wicked," which infuses the song with a plethora of excellent vocoder effects and pumps out one hell of an industrial mix. PIG makes an appearance as Raymond Watts takes on "Gibber," offering up his own brand of manipulated vocals and chugging guitars, giving the song the resonance of a PIG song, but keeping in line with Mortiis' own style. Kubrick also perform well with their cover of "The Grudge," utilizing an almost retro feel with their electronics and building up a rather atmospheric mix quite nicely. The whole CD ends with In the Nursery's Extraction mix of "The Worst in Me," which takes on the guise of a neo-classical piece full of subtle electronics offset by some epic symphonic effects; a great way to close the album.

Some Kind of Heroin performs its role in the Mortiis discography rather well, as it gives us a taste of what the remixing artists are capable of and offering up various interpretations of Mortiis' music. While The Grudge was a step towards more traditional modes of industrial rock, this companion album has its feet planted in the here and now, giving listeners an enjoyable set of the best of what today's underground electro/industrial has to offer. It's not exactly an essential album, but it's one that would surely find its way into many an electro aficionado's CD player.