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Where To From Here?

    
       
       
       
     
             
Mortal Factor are a thrash metal band from Switzerland formed in 2003, to date releasing two E.P.'s - 'Five cc of Pure...' (2018) and 'Devil And His Dog' (2021), and two full length albums - 'No Lessons Need Learning' (2014) and 'Where To From Here?' (2023).    
             
Celebrating twenty years as a band, the Swiss metal machine Mortal Factor release their sophomore album 'Where To From Here?', featuring ten songs across a fairly ferocious and aggressive forty minutes! Imagine if you will a wall of sound that comprises the groove of Pantera mixed with the brutality of the Teutonic Four - Destruction, Kreator, Sodom and Tankard (for anyone who needs reminding, or God forbid doesn't even know who the Teutonic Four are) - and you'll have a rough idea of how Mortal Factor sounds! I say rough idea, 'cause until you actually listen to the band, you'll have no idea of what the three-piece outfit from the land of clocks, cheese and chocolate sound like! So if you can find a spare minute or two, come and listen to 'em with me, it's gonna be savage! The album opens with 'Found A Minute', swinging a savage blow of gorgeous groove metal - the guitar sound as sweet as you'd ever want it to be! And then come the vocals, full of rawness and a throaty roar that takes the airways by the scruff of its neck, shaking it violently!    
             
I haven't heard this blend of gorgeous groove and raw vocals since 1995 when Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath) and Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory) exploded onto the metal scene with the song 'Drive Boy, Shooting', off the debut album 'Plastic Planet' by Butler's new band G//Z/R. What a song - and album - that was! And right here, right now, I'm getting the same tingly feeling as I did way back then. Slowing the pace to a majestic march, 'Spirit Soul' is a thunderous avalanche of heaviness and scathing vocals, the band bringing to the fore a sense of fear and menace. And after just two songs in, I can honestly say, this album ain't for the faint of heart! You're gonna need a thick skin to survive the bands relentless thrash attack - an attack that brutally cuts and thrusts with 'You Do'. The fastest song heard so far, 'You Do' is full of head bang ability, stretching necks to their ultimate limit! Intensity plays a huge part in the sound of 'Where To From Here?', Mortal Factor inflicting a massive amount on listeners everywhere. None more so than for 'The Road', a devastating gallop of groove, brutality and aggression, the band destroying everything and everyone standing in its way.    
             
Mortal Factor are relentless when it comes to delivering thrash - and let's be honest here, their sound is more than just thrash. It's a mix of groove and thrash with hints of death and metalcore! And it sounds fucking great! The most melodic song on offer so far - or should I say the least raw - 'Whiskey Stream', is a little Motorhead-esque, featuring a mid tempo thunderstomp of immense proportions! Vigorous head nodding and foot tapping is gonna accompany 'Whiskey Stream' from start to finish - it's that infectious! And the underlying groove metal style is still very much in the ascendancy, the album powering on with the devastating 'Trying', pummelling listeners into submission with brutal blow after blow! Simply irresistible - the band unrelenting in their quest to destroy the ears and necks of every metalhead in the world! 'Where To From Here?' isn't full of pace, but it's loaded to the brim with heaviness and a gorgeous groove that's just so fucking attractive! 'Broken' features the groove at its most heaviest - the band stirring a little doom metal into their awesome sound!    
             
Sombre and eerie is the best description for how 'Until It Cracks' emerges outta the album, Mortal Factor taking a thirty second detour from their normal sound - before all fucking hell breaks loose, and the bands instantly recognisable groove metal style explodes into life! 'Until It Cracks' is a devastating high energy drive of aggression fuelled thrash - if you're a fan of bands such as Bray Road, Carbon Black, Demonhead, Machine Head, Pantera, and the aforementioned G//Z/R (the band now known as GZR), then this album is definitely for you. And with only two songs left, the band maintain their groove/thrash metal assault with 'Order In The Chaos', an infectious gallop of insane head bang ability - head bang ability that's been of the highest level since the album began. And to close the album, Mortal Factor remain in full swing, swinging the bat hard, ending with the groove fest 'Good As Gold' - and an anthemic chant style chorus that every listener, fan, follower and concert goer is gonna shout and scream at the tops of their voices. What a great ending to a very good album.    
             
Overall, a heavily groove laden thrash metal romp with hints of doom, death and metalcore, 'Where To From Here?' is a devastating listen.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Darkstorm Records    
             
             
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