MORTIIS - From Masks To Monsters; Interview Available
September 21, 2009, 15 years ago
FEARnet reports:
Few artists have managed the creative task of building entire imaginary worlds to play in – at least not to the degree that MORTIIS (aka Håvard Ellefsen) has undertaken over the past fifteen years.
After a two-year run as bassist for EMPEROR (Norway's notorious black metal outfit), Mortiis began to explore epic fantasy music in several ambitious solo projects, and the worlds he envisioned even led him to transform his appearance for live shows – including an elaborate mask resembling the goblin Blix from Ridley Scott's Legend.
The image ended up sticking with him for many years, through his most recent albums, The Smell Of Rain and The Grudge, even as his music moved further from the dark ambient/neo-classical domain and into gothic and industrial turf – and transforming from a solo effort with a cult following to a full-fledged rock band.
Mortiis retired the mask recently, but ironically his visual sensibilities have turned even darker and more horrifying in the build-up to the upcoming studio album The Great Deceiver – as revealed in the gore-drenched preview footage from the upcoming videos for 'Doppelganger' and 'Zeitgeist' – all of which you can see on the band’s MySpace and YouTube channel. The new material got us so amped that we had to chat with the man himself about the music and the images of Mortiis – past, present and future.
Read the full interview at FEARnet.
