AD MORTEM - In Honorem Mortis CD

If there's one certainty in these uncertain times, it's that PURITY THROUGH FIRE will continue to raise the banner of nowadays German black metal: proud and pure in its expression, honoring the past whilst not being shackled to it, and evincing a professionalism that doesn't sacrifice true underground spirit. Their latest executioners are AD MORTEM, who'll be familiar to those who caught their PURITY THROUGH FIRE-released split with standard-bearers MAVORIM in that very uncertain year of 2020. While their split-mates are true titans of today's Teutonic black metal scene, AD MORTEM proved to be a poignant counterpart, evincing an undeniable physicality that remained hook-heavy and hummable.

Now they've returned to fulfill their still-substantial potential with the debut album In Honorem Mortis. Here, AD MORTEM dispense with any subtlety and go for the throat quickly and calculatingly. While the eight hymns comprising their debut album hover around the five-minute mark, everything on In Honorem Mortis sounds irrepressibly urgent. Mind you, the quartet's songwriting isn't categorically "all speed, all the time" - their shifting of gears, from strength & honor gallop to pistons-pumping blast, is as fluid as it comes - but their execution of such puts AD MORTEM in rarefied territory: seamlessly flowing, even swinging, making their martial thrust all the more mesmerizing. Of course, the German tongue makes their black metal bite harder, and wrapped in polished-yet-powerful production, the gleaming chrome one witnesses on In Honorem Mortis is but the blade of their sword about to deliver its fatal blow. Bow before AD MORTEM and feel their sweet release!

Tracklisting
1. Von hohen Himmeln
2. Größer als das Leben
3. Labyrith
4. Der letzte Feind
5. Urgewalt
6. Auf kalten Gräbern
7. Todesstreben
8. Death & Beyond

AD MORTEM lineup
BS – guitars
TF – drums
Henker – bass, keyboard  (Temple of Oblivion)
E. Aggressor – vocals

Release notes
In Honorem Mortis was written between 2020 and 2023
All music and lyrics by Ad Mortem
Guest vocals on "Auf kalten Gräbern" by Baptist (Mavorim)
Recording by Henker in Oct. – Nov. 2023
Mix & master by Kalthallen Studios
Artwork by Northem Art
Band photos by Rin