Mortor – Shoot Em Up.

The war themed second studio album Shoot Em Up is not for the faint hearted as it careers along at breakneck pace for almost 50 minutes. The vocals of Yolin Lafreniere are pure death metal, a bit one dimensional but the aggression is needed for the ferocity of the music. Shoot Em Up  was independently released 0n Sept. 18th 2012.

Shoot Em Up was recorded by Christian Donaldson (Cryptopsy/Mythosis) and engineered by Mathieu Marcotte, both of whom added guitar solos to the album. Mortor are a relatively young band, formed in 2008 by rhythm guitarist David Paquette as a continuation of his solo project when he moved from Montreal to Gatineau, Ottawa in Canada, resulting in the release of their debut album Metal Ride in 2010.

Shoot Em Up is made up of 14 tracks of death/thrash metal as the band describe themselves but i think there is an element of early punk there to. Standout tracks are the short,sharp instrumental opener. Most bands use a slow,melodic intro but Mortor shoot straight from the hip with 44 seconds of buzzsaw riffs and pounding, jackhammer drums. Under The Flag continues with the same momentum as the drums coincide with the vocals inbetween verses to hammer the point home.

Eat Lead surges along like early Sepultura with Yolin sounding uncannily like Max Cavalera. Shoot Em Up is the first example of punk tinges on the album as it snarls like defunct US band Amen. Trigger Happy’s staccato drum assault is backed by a nwobhm type speed metal riff. Following the dual guitar melodic intro to Infidels, the rest of the track is dominated by churning riffs and a menacing double tracked vocal.

Whiskey Surgery has a Killing Joke type rhythmical pulse punctuated by arpeggio stabs of guitar. Highlight of the album for me is the aptly titled For Glory, it’s grandiose mood would fit into any Manowar album. Days Of Our Knives is epic battle metal featuring Thin Lizzy dual guitar work. The Bonesaw is prime Morbid Angel rage and album closer Let’s Deflagrate is bass guitar driven with punk guitar riffs.

Mortor band line up :-

Jay Cross – Drums.

Antonin Perras Foisy – Lead guitar.

Yolin Lafreniere – Lead vocals.

Dave Paquette – Rhythm guitar.

Jonathan Boulay – Bass.

Shoot Em Up album track listing :-

Intro.

Under The Flag.

Eat Lead.

Shoot Em Up.

Clusterfuck.

Trigger Happy.

Locked And Loaded.

Infidels.

Whiskey Surgery.

For Glory.

Days Of Our Knives.

Point Blank.

The Bonesaw.

Let’s Deflagrate.

I award Shoot Em Up 9/10.