Formed in Mexico City in the year 2003 by Lugubrem Acerbus is a Black Metal entity named, MORDSKOG, and the band is completely devoted to traditional black arts, Pre-Columbian and contemporary Death worship. The band claims to be completely against the followers of the Judeo-Christian faith and lyrical themes, such as decadence, anti-Christianity form the motif of the album. The band first released a compilation called "Rare hymns of Perdition" in 2007 via Deathbringer records. An EP followed in the year 2014 entitled, "Mors est Vitae Essentia", which was released independently. The band was on a hiatus between the years 2012 to 2014 before they regrouped to release their full-length debut album, "XIII", almost 14 years since their inception. The album, according to the band, had been recorded a while ago but took a long time to see the light of day. The name of the band loosely translates to murder forest from Swedish to English and the band describes their music as the melting pot of the best parts of the second wave of Black Metal. Lugubrem Acerbus has lent vocals to bands like ERESHKIGAL and ENDSTILLE, from Germany, CRIMSON MOON and to Death Metal legends BLACKTHORN from Mexico. Murmur has provided his guitar playing expertise to bands like REPVBLIKA and HACAVITZ.

The album kicks off with the ominous, atmospheric track, "Lautum Novedialem", and it begins with demonic whispers in the background set to a spoken word bit. Halfway through the track, raspy vocals creep and worms its way into the track, which has become a full-blown Doom/Black Metal song. The 3-minute song ends the same way it began; set to diabolical evil whispers. "Aequo Pulsat Pede" starts off with a blistering riff in the beginning and is set to an infernal riff. Spoken words are heard in the beginning before the scratchy vocals usher the song at a breakneck speed. This song is a traditional Black Metal song with choir like background vocals. The pacy riff is heard almost throughout the track, although during the middle of the song, the riff turns grave and sober. This is the standout song of the album for me, as there is hardly a dull moment in this 4-minute dour composition. "Mors Est Vitae Essentia" is another track that has elements of Melodic Metal and is vicious from start to finish. The riff of this grim song is the driving force behind this hellish song. The song gallops at a healthy pace before spoken words slows the track just a tad. The drumming is spot-on and provides an able anchor to this thoughtful track. "Mors Vincit Omnia" is the penultimate album of the record, clocking just over 5 minutes, is a fast paced track.  The dry, cracked vocals give no respite to the listener and the angst filled vocals is a worthy adversary to the melancholy melody and the macabre mood of the song. Agony filled screams mixed with satanic whispers set to frenetic guitar riffs and precise drumming, gives this song an infernal temperament before it ends with a classical acoustic guitar melody.

The album has a strong occult presence and the chilling whispers add to the evil aura of the record. The fact that the band played fast Melodic hellacious riffs thrilled me to bits. The band has successfully proved that they are no amateurs at churning out an album that is filled with nefarious riffs and wicked whispers. Although the lead vocals are gruff and harsh, it is not entirely unclear. The songs invoke dark evil imagery of ancient cults with their blood sacrifices and ritualistic ceremonies. While the album as a whole cannot be termed as intensely ferocious, there are moments of pure evil in the tracks. This is a highly technical album and will delight fans of Death/Black Metal.<