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MORTILLERY
Origin Of Extinction

Napalm (2013)
Rating: 7.5/10

I knew very little about Canada’s Mortillery, having missed out on their 2011 debut platter Murder Death Kill, but I must admit that as soon as I heard the injection of Slayer’s classic ‘Raining Blood’ riff (from 1986’s Reign In Blood) within the opening track ‘Battle Earth’ of their recent Origin Of Extinction, I was thought to myself, “Oh no! Another band aping 80s thrash to get by”. But how wrong was I.

Although Mortillery aren’t afraid to wear their influences on their denim sleeves, here’s a band who I find refreshing in their thrashing mayhem. What also seems to help matters is the venomous vocal attack of Cara McCutchen, who displays bigger balls than a majority of current male thrash metal frontmen, who seem hung up on aping James Hetfield (Metallica) or Joey Belladonna (Anthrax) in their quest for the current thrash crown.

Mortillery are an outfit who boast attitude alongside a batch of beefy tracks that combine the cold-steel angst of Judas Priest, coupled with New Wave Of British Heavy Metal grit and thrashing mayhem. This five-piece also consists of lead guitarist Alex Scott, rhythm guitarist Alex Gutierrez, bassist Miranda Gladeau and drummer Kevin Gaudet, who combined make for quite a force.

This ten-tracker rarely stops for breath, launching full-steam ahead, sinking its teeth into the jugular as the band rattle through a series of apocalyptic noise-fests that effortlessly shift gears between punk-tinged thrash, and crossover tinged metal. Mortillery cite all manner of classic acts as influence, ranging from W.A.S.P. to Tankard, and Iron Maiden to The Accüsed.

You can hear this flexibility as they charge through the toxic assault of ‘F.O.A.D.’, with McCutchen summing up the bands attitude as she screams, “… I don’t give a fuck” and pretty much, “fuck all…” to everything behind an old school Slayer-styled riff with a melodic Iron Maiden-esque galloping mid-section… fantastic stuff!

Elsewhere, the band opt for a more basic thrash attack on the festering chuggernaut that is ‘No Way Out’. While ‘Cease To Exist’ relies on a crossover thrash / hardcore riff to get by, Cara’s vocals soar high above. But those vocals take on their most menacing form when she rasps and gurgles, as on the sinister ‘Seen In Death’.

‘The Hunter’s Lair’ effortlessly combines a New Wave Of British Heavy Metal approach with thrash, but anyone with an ear for Razor, Nuclear Assault, Overkill, old Death Angel, Heathen, Agent Steel, and punk-laced aggressive metal will find much to savour here.

Origin Of Extinction is certainly a marked improvement on their debut opus, which I heard only recently, but whether Mortillery have enough in their repertoire to enable them to rise above the thrash masses we’ll have to wait and see. However, these guys most certainly have the aggression and raw attitude to make an impact, but they might have benefited more by calling this album Origin Of Thrash, as it seems they’ve spent a lot of their time flicking through their old leather-clad metal albums in search of influence. But it’s no bad thing when you can rock this hard.

Neil Arnold

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