MORTIIS, T.O.M.B., DREAD RISKS, THE HANGED MAN’S CURSE – Come and Take It Live, January 31, 2020

MORTIIS, T.O.M.B., DREAD RISKS, THE HANGED MAN’S CURSE – Come and Take It Live – January 31, 2020, Austin, Texas, The United States

Not only did Norwegian masked man, MORTIIS make a long awaited return to Austin, he also returned to his dungeon synth roots. The last album he single handily released of pure synth music was in 1999—“The Stargate.” Then he went through his industrial phase. Now, he returns to his first era with “Spirit of Rebellion.” The troll played Austin with tour mates, black/noise miscreants T.O.M.B., and local acts DREAD RISKS and THE HANGED MAN’S CURSE.

Although every band on the bill was unique, there were shared themes among the four. Three of the bands featured at least one member wearing a mask. Local openers, THE HANGED MAN’S CURSE wore black sheets and masks.  Musically, the band stood apart more than any band on the bill. They play their own brand of power metal mixed with Spaghetti Western scores. If IRON MAIDEN and RHAPSODY OF FIRE orchestrated the soundtrack for a ‘60s Clint Eastern Western, it might sound like THE HANGED MAN’S CURSE. Their singer (I shall not disclose his identity) displayed a strong voice, at times operatic. Guitar gallops always fit any band that creates songs that may involves horses, and it fit these mysterious figures well. The bandits ended their set with a sensual-yet-heavy rendition of LIONEL RICHIE’s “Lady.”

Second opener, DREAD RISKS started a motif that ran through the night—electronic music. The Austin-based group played a brand of industrial that brings to mind SKINNY PUPPY, WUMPSCUT and BILE. The two-piece created aggressive numbers, especially through their hard beats and processed vocals. The singer’s ability to multi-task was impressive. He twiddled knobs and monitored his computer screen while singing and gyrating. The group played in darkness except for the lights attached to their rigs and a screen in the background showing random, often blurry images. It was nice to see a band of this sorts play further south than the usual haunt, Elysium.

T.O.M.B. also incorporate electronic elements into their acts, although the group also use instruments. Like THE HANGED MAN’S CURSE and MORTIIS, masks were in play, this time by the vocalist. T.O.M.B. is an acronym for Total Occultic Mechanical Blasphemy—the perfect description for the band. The Peaceville recording artists play harsh, noisy black metal inspired by acts such as ABRUPTUM, HAVOHEJ and SUNNO))). Their masked and spiked singer banged his sample pad with a mallet, which caused a huge boom. His energy was fun to watch as was the stage presence of the female guitarist to his left who performed wild bends and often messed with the settings on her amp. There wasn’t much to grab onto in terms of hearing lyrics or stand out guitar parts, T.O.M.B. was more about becoming spell bound to the ritualistic repetition and layers found in their music.

I last saw MORTIIS during the industrial era when he opened for DANZIG on the Blackest of the Black Tour in 2005. I previously saw a rare performance, one of two concerts on that tour, in Chicago at the Expo of the Extreme in 1997. That was during his first, dungeon synth era. There were theatrics in that performance. He had henchmen on stage an a women on an altar. He bit her neck and drank her blood later into the performance. MORTIIS didn’t play his synthesizer, everything was sampled and played through the PA. He walked around, posing for the crowd in his bat cape and pointy noise and ears mask.

There were no henchmen or women on altars this time, and MORTIIS played his synth. He played it elevated high in the air (maybe ten feet), so he could look down on the crowd. Instead of walking around, he hid behind his synth, popping his head out here and there. Tall canvases were placed to either side of his podium and an uprooted tree in the background help instill the primordial quality of his music.

One of the compositions from his newest album “Spirit of Rebellion,” “Visions of an Ancient Future” perfectly describes his music and imagery. So much of it sounds medieval or arcane, yet it’s played on a very modern instrument and at times sounds futuristic. Although much easier to make out each note, MORTIIS was similar to T.O.M.B. before him in that fact that his music is mesmerizing. It’s not something you can mosh too, sing along, band your head or air guitar, but the ambiance was hypnotic.

MORTIIS has come a long way since I last saw the dungeon synth version 23-years ago. He had a better presentation through stage props, and I enjoyed “seeing” him create (I couldn’t make up much other than his head popping up here and there) such music of fantastic auras.