Warthur Borrowing grindcore's compositional tendency towards microsongs and brutal death metal's instrumental assault and "burping frog" vocal style, Mortician cook up on their barbecue some dubious cuts of meat - tastes a bit like pork, come to think of it - wrapped up in a bun which wavers on the borderline between deathgrind and brutal death metal. My personal gut instinct is that they just about end up falling on the brutal death metal side of the line - they don't quite have the rough punk abandon that tends to characterise grindcore for a lot of people - but your mileage may vary.

The album in general follows a rather simple formula - well-chosen horror movie quote, burst of music, horror movie quote, burst of music, and it goes on like that until it just sort of ends. What saves the album from being a total joke is the atmosphere it establishes; for the most part, music and quotes alike are well calibrated to create a delicious sense of dread for the listener. It doesn't always succeed - and I think the album begins to lose steam a little towards the end, if I'm perfectly honest - but it's exciting stuff when it does.

Vim Fuego Who in their right mind, besides Will Rahmer and Roger Beaujard of course, actually takes Mortician seriously? Insecure brutal Death Metal fans seem to.

Even the merest mention of Mortician in front of brutal Death Metal fans can lead to your entrails being removed through your nose and your spleen cannibalised. It seems confusing Mortician with "real" brutal death metal bands like Nile, Cryptopsy, Suffocation and Immolation is not allowed. Only a fool would confuse them. Look at what's here.

Imagine you and your mate are 12. Someone has explained "death metal" to you. You think "Gee, that sounds like fun, let's start our own death metal band!" Unfortunately, you can't actually play guitar, bass, drums or sing. So how are you going to get the band noticed? By taking everything to it's extreme. Downtune the guitars and bass as far as you can. Growl as deep as you can (gosh, those voices broke quickly!) so no one can hear that your lyrics are crap. OK, so a drummer is a problem. You can't find anyone who can play fast enough. Never mind, just grab a drum machine and wind it up as fast as it will go. The songs are still a bit of a problem because they are too short. No problem, just stick ten minutes of horror movie samples on the album!

That is the recipe Mortician developed and have been sticking to ever since. It's extreme, it's brutal, it's silly, it's fun. It doesn't conform to the po-faced stick-up-your-butt Suffocation School of Brutal Death Metal, and is all the better for it. Mortician have their own identity. It is not particularly mature or clever, but it is their own.

`House By The Cemetery' is Mortician at their primitive best. It is gory, guttural and short, exactly what it is supposed to be.