Black Metal is a kind of tradition in Brazil, and it's not difficult to find projects in the format of "one-man-bands" here. But one of the best works heard from this kind of band is, without a shadow of doubt, "Old Memories of the Past", first album from MORTUO, from Curitiba (Paraná). Vox Morbidus focused his energies to create something that is near from the roots of the SWOBM, taking influences from MAYHEM, SATYRICON, EMPEROR and ROTTING CHRIST, but doing the thing in his way. No, he doesn't follow models, or respect frontiers, he just does what he wants, and this granted us a very aggressive form of Black Metal, but with some nasty and raw melodies.

All the sound production (recording, mixing, mastering) and even the graphic work is done by Vox Morbidus himself, to keep the control of his musical work. And it works perfectly, because he mixed the raw, heavy and aggressive sound of SWOBM with an aesthetic sense that enable us all to understand what he is playing. The best moments of "Old Memories of the Past": the violent raw energy release called "Obscure Ancient War", showing very good tempos and excellent keyboards parts; the bitter weight of "Hunting in the Darkness", with very good guitar riffs and some melodic sense; the oppressive weight shown on "Road of Evil" and "Past I: The End of Hope", both showing great vocals and fine riffs; the bitterness of SWOBM presented on "Old Memories of the Past". Two precious gems came to end this war artifact: a version for EVILUSIONS' "Devil Eyes" (the band's first name, when it was an atmospheric Black Metal with only keyboards parts, but here, a violent purge with nasty guitars and shrieked vocals), and the version for BATHORY's "Raise the Dead", that respects the original, but puts MORTUO personality on it.

All hail MORTUO!