Mortal Sin - Face Of Despair   

Fine Aussie thrash

The flourishing northern hemisphere thrash scene in the U.S.A. (in San Francisco, to a lesser extent New York) and parts of Europe (London, Germany etc) was producing the second wave of thrash bands by the time the land down under had its first. Mortal Sin landed on the local metal scene out of the western suburbs of Sydney with their legendary debut Mayhemic Destruction in 1987. Two years later they would release what would become the pinnacle of their short lived thrash career, Face Of Despair, in the same year the band landed the high profile support slot for Metallica's first ever tour of Australia.

Face Of Despair opens strongly with the classic I Am Immortal, a solid cut that is driven by solid riffs and the trademark of the era gang vocals on the chorus. Of course, being controversial, political or socially aware was another trademark of that era and Mortal Sin were no different with the track Voyage Of The Disturbed. Another classic up there with the opening cut, it would deal with the resumption of N.A.S.A.'s Space Shuttle program after the 1986 Challenger disaster that would claim the life of seven astronauts. The Infantry Corps (inspired by the photography of Iraqi children bearing guns) and For Richer For Poorer (highlighting the class division within Australia at the time) utilise the tight riffing of guitarists Mick Burke and Paul Carwana well with the dynamics of tempo changes, while Martyrs Of Eternity is as much of a classic as the opening track.

Innocent Torture (which is based on a true story of a man who finds a victim impaled on a fence and is convicted of murder forever insisting his innocence) and Suspended Animation are more traditional thrash assaults with dive bomb guitar solos and riffs that run down the fretboard, where as H tells a story of Hiroshima and the H-bomb over a verse that swings into a thrashy straight forward chorus. Terminal Reward moshes through dealing with the topic of euthanasia which is still highly debated today some 17 years on. Robbie Soles, or R. Soles for short, is a light hearted commentary of the political arena which rounds off the album.

Face Of Despair would be the peak of Mortal Sin's thrash days. Tracks like I Am Immortal, Voyage Of The Disturbed and Martyrs Of Eternity are pure classics full of memorable riffs and hooks that it's near impossible to not start headbanging to. They are the best on offer for sure but the rest aren't lagging too far behind. If you can track this one down, it's definitely worth picking up.

(Vertigo)

Added: May 17th 2005
Reviewer: Simon Milburn
Score:
Related Link: Official Website
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