MORTIS MUTILATI started as a one-man project in 2011 and has evolved over the years to its latest iteration as a foursome. On September 11, 2020 they release their fifth full-length album, "The Fate Of Flight 800." With that particular release date, it's easy to confuse this tale of an ill-fated aircraft with other aircraft related events that happened on said date. But hold on, that's just a matter of intentionally selecting a date - no odd coincidence there, just a bit of morbidity. But here's the thing: There are multiple Flight 800 airplane crashes - one in 1996 in which flight TWA 800 crashed shortly after takeoff during its trip to Rome (stopover in Paris) killing all 230 passengers and crew onboard; the other in 1964 in which another flight TWA 800 crashed during takeoff from Rome killing 50 of the 73 people onboard. This just might come down to aircraft numbering conventions and bad luck, bad damn that's a lot of coincidence there.

Interest piqued? Again, hold on. Macabre was inspired to write this album a few years back when he was exhuming a gravesite as part of his work as a professional gravedigger. In his words: "Once in the grave, I had to open the casket from 1964 and I came face-to-face with a 'brand new' corpse. Most of the time, there's only bones left." The corpse was a hostess from the above noted 1964 flight. And there you go, while Dante's muse was the elegant Beatrice Portinari, Macabre's muse is an exhumed corpse from a forgotten aviation tragedy. That's Metal.

Okay, what about this album then? We have 49 minutes of devastating Black Metal strewn across eight tracks. We have both male and female vocals and, correspondingly, shrieking banshee and choral goddess. There's also a dual guitar assault and you can actually hear the bass . . . which is to say the mix is cleaner than you get on a lot of BM albums. Acoustic interludes are juxtaposed with distorted riffs and masterful lead solos. Lyrically, if you heed the song titles as signposts, the narrative begins just before the incident, takes us through the accident itself, and then dwells on the smoldering aftermath.

Standout tracks are "Ashes" for its compositional intricacy; "Flames Behind You" which mixes ethereal chorales, grinding riffs, and soothing acoustics; and the title-track, "The Fate of Flight 800," because its so good they named the album after it. Regrets? I don't think there are any throw away tracks, there are just some tracks that aren't as awesome as the others.

I am rarely disappointed with the depth and intrigue that is behind so many metal bands and albums. "The Fate Of Flight 800" is no exception. MORTIS MUTILATI has put together a quality slab of Black Metal that stands in memoriam for an aviation disaster overshadowed by yet an even larger aviation disaster. The tale it weaves is riveting and will leave an unsettling impact on your eardrums, mind, and soul.