Mortician: Return of the Titans of Rock And Metal

Mortician: Return of the Titans of Rock And Metal

The almighty Morticain from Austria has returned with an all-out vengeance, ready to rip your face off with their kickass brand of ultrasonic intensity.  Titans is the name of their latest heavy metal masterwork, available worldwide through the Pure Steel Records compound.  With roots dating back to the 80’s, Mortician remains a sonic force ready and willing to rock and shred the masses into the glorious metal ages ahead.  Highwire Daze recently caught up with Mortician bassist Patrik Lercher to discuss the oncoming arrival of their Titans manifesto.  Read on…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Mortician, and how long the band has been together. 
I’m Patrik, bass player of Mortician and one of the founding members beside Thomas our guitar player. Our Journey through the world of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal started in 1983 when Thomas and Roland started to play Kiss and Judas Priest songs on their first electric guitars. It was clear, the next step is a band! And so it happened. We started to write our first songs and performed the first show on 31st of March in 1984.

Where are you based out of and what is the local music scene like there?
We are based in Satteins a small village in the most western part of Austria which is close to the border to Switzerland and Germany. In the 80’s metal music was quite popular and therefore we’ve got good opportunities to play in clubs and at motorcycle rallies. This for sure always ended up in a party 🙂 Nowadays most of the clubs disappear but on the other hand more international bands play in our area which gives us good opportunities as well.

Is there any overall story or concept behind the Titans CD title?
Titans is the link to the song Titans of Rock which is an appreciation to Heavy Metal packed inside some fantasy lyrics.

Select two songs from Titans and what inspired the lyrics.
Blood Sucking Industry expresses the more and more increasing pressure we are confronted within our jobs. You have to deliver or you are out. Humane Resource wither to puppets from the management and personal fates like burn outs, etc. increase.

Rat Lines is part of Europeans dark history when at the end of World War II the high ranked Nazis escaped to Argentina and other countries with the help of the Catholic Church.

Who did the cover art for Titans and how much input did you have on it?
Choosing Titans as the CD title, we knew that there must be something big. So we decided to contact Dimitar Nikolov, an artist from Romania, who is doing excellent drawings for metal covers and festivals. I gave him some parts of the lyrics from Titans of Rock and here it is. An outstanding cover art expressing what the listener will hear.

How does Titans compare to the previous Mortician albums?
The fact that with Twain on the vocals, we have a completely different style of singer, it is hard to compare. For most of the songs we already had the riffs and concept when Twain joined us. So you might find some similarities but over all the songs are more heavy and straight to the face.

What could one expect from a live Mortician show?
Pure enjoyment of heavy metal from the first until the last chord and an amazing stage performance which shows what we are living for.

What are you looking forward to the most about your upcoming show with Tygers Of Pan Tang?
It is our CD release show and due to the fact that 6 years have passed between the album Shout for Heavy Metal and Titans, it will be exciting to receive feedback from the audience in a club where you can feel the breath of the shouting fans. And sharing the stage with Tygers of Pan Tang will give us another fucking kick. They are awesome!

What was it like doing shows with Sacred Steel and Vicious Rumours and did you get to meet or hang out with either band at all?
Both are great bands and personalities. Especially with Sacred Steel, we had some beers after the shows and also meet them from time to time on festivals.

Has Mortician ever played here in the States or plan to do so in future days?
Unfortunately not. But we’d love to play in the States.

Are you currently involved with any other bands outside of Mortician?
No I’m not. Mortician is my only addiction 🙂

What do you think has kept Mortician alive and well since your beginnings in 1983?
First it was Thomas’s will to play. After we split up in the beginning of the 90s, he was continuing playing in bands and therefore kept the flame burning. We have received amazing feedback from our fans when we reunited in 2009. Fans and promoters all over Europe responded and invited us to play.

What’s up next for Mortician?
We will have some shows in Austria and we are currently planning shows in Portugal, Spain and Greece. An additional lyric video is under construction and hopefully our first show in the States will come true.

Any final words of wisdom?
Having the opportunity to write songs, to perform shows, to express what we are feeling and what happens on this planet is a great gift for which we are thankful. Big thanks to all our fans and supporters.

LINE-UP:
Thomas Metzler – guitars
Patrik Lercher – bass
Twain Cooper – vocals
Alex Astivia – drums

(Interview by Ken Morton)

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