As arguably the first band in Australia to play purely thrash metal, Mortal Sin quickly developed a solid following and only seven months after their first live show the band recorded an album-length demo in a mere three days in July 1986. The eight track recording was eventually released in late 1986 as Mayhemic Destruction and released as an album on the band's own label Mega Metal Productions. Reaction to the album was immediate and the band was snapped up for an international album deal by Phonogram Records UK, who then re-released Mayhemic Destruction worldwide in 1987. In the meantime, Krstin was replaced by Mick Burke from fellow Sydney thrash act Slaughter Lord. Mortal Sin spent much of 1988 recording a second album with producer Randy Burns, who had previously worked with Kreator & Megadeth. The release of Face of Despair was held over until early 1989; shortly afterward the band gained further prominence with an Australian tour with Metallica in May but Campbell was sacked shortly after. Another former Slaughter Lord member in Steve Hughes replaced him. In January 1990, Mortal Sin toured Europe and the UK then played some shows in the US but after their final show there Maurer quit the band.
On its return to Australia, the band split, only to reform a short time later with Steve Sly replacing Maurer, however by the end of the year Hughes, Burke and Carwana had also been replaced. The line-up of Eftichiou and Sly plus Alex Hardy (guitar), Dave DeFrancesco (guitar, ex-Enticer) and drummer Nash Hall toured briefly and recorded a third album entitled Every Dog Has Its Day (released as Rebellious Youth in some markets) that showcased a more traditional metal style than previously but the new combination and sound ultimately failed and by late 1991 Mortal Sin split up.
For the next few years Wayne Campbell featured in bands such as White Trash and Grungeon and also worked as a promoter and Steve Hughes played in Presto and Nazxul. Andy Eftichiou formed Who's Guilty, a heavy rock band that achieved minor significance with an EP and ironically also included two former members of Wizzard. Mick Burke moved into the area of sound engineering. Mat Maurer formed his own band Omega which supported Scatterbrain, but the band did not progress into a writing stage.
It was not until 1996, when Campbell and Maurer then reformed Mortal Sin with Eftichiou and Carwana, plus Anthony Hoffman from Campbell's band Grungeon. Carwana departed almost immediately and was replaced by Troy Scerri, who had previously played alongside Campbell in White Trash. This version of the band released an EP - Revolution of the Mind independently and launched the first full-scale Australian tour that Mortal Sin had ever undertaken. The tour wasn't particularly successful and eventually Eftichiou was sacked, replaced briefly by the bassist from Sydney death metal band Tscabeze for the group's only appearance at the annual Metal For The Brain festival in Canberra. Jason Thorncraft of Sydney's Headlifter took Eftichiou's place after this but Mortal Sin split up once more in September 1998. The original Australian thrash metal band's reformation had lasted less than two years.
However, the band still wasn't finished, and in February 2004 Mortal Sin returned once more, this time as Campbell, Maurer, Eftichou and former Addictive guitarists Joe Buttigieg and Mick Sultana. A year later, Mortal Sin was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the inaugural Australian Heavy Metal Music Awards but within a month the line-up changed again when Campbell and Buttigieg were replaced by Luke Cook and Nathan Shea. In April 2005, Mortal Sin toured Australia with Anthrax and a comeback album is being recorded. On February 4, 2006, the band played a show in Sydney that featured them performing the Mayhemic Destruction album live in its entirety for the first time; this performance was filmed for a proprosed DVD release, however Mortal Sin announced in late June 2006 that the project was abandoned due to poor audio quality.
In August 2006, the band returned to European stages to play some shows in Germany, firstly with Rock over Hamburg alongside Michael Schenker Group, Rose Tattoo, Metal Church, Victory, Gorilla Monsoon and Tourettes Syndrome. The band also performed at the Wacken Open Air Festival. Mortal Sin's fourth full-length album An Absence of Faith was recorded in February 2007 at The Basement Studios in Sydney with producer Phil McKellar. It is due for released in July 2007 in Australia through Riot Entertainment and in Europe in September through Germany's Armageddon Music.
Mortal Sin will return to Europe in March 2008 as support to Overkill to tour and promote the new album.
Into the Fire
Mortal Sin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Return to the chapel and ring the bell
Punish all the sinners, cleanse their souls
Drive the evil spirits back into their holes
CHORUS:
Into the fire, the bodies burn
Feel the heat, the temperatures rise
Feel the heat, it's in your eyes
Raised from the dead, your body's alive
Escaped from the torture, you have survived
Your face is scarred to skin and bone
Scream for mercy with a howling moan
CHORUS:
Calling all sinners who paid the price
Return to the chapel your sacrifice
You fought the black spirits, you thought you'd won
The battle of evil has just begun
CHORUS:
REPEAT CHORUS:
The lyrics to Mortal Sin's song "Into the Fire" are a call to all gods, both from heaven and hell, to come together and cleanse the sins of humanity. They are asking for punishment for all the sinners and for the evil spirits to be driven back into their holes. The chorus then describes the aftermath of this purification process as bodies burn in the fire, and there is no return. The heat can be felt rising and in one's eyes.
The second verse shifts to a personal perspective. The singer has been raised from the dead and has survived torture, only to be scarred for life. They now scream for mercy with a howling moan. The final verse is a call to all sinners who paid the price to return to the chapel and make their sacrifice. They thought they had won the battle against evil, but it has only just begun.
The overall theme of the song is the battle of good against evil, and the hope for purification and redemption. The lyrics suggest that only through a painful and fiery cleansing can one hope to be purified of their sins and defeat evil. The song also highlights the struggle of personal battles against evil and the importance of sacrifice in the journey towards redemption.
Line by Line Meaning
Calling all gods from heaven and hell
Summoning all deities from both sides of the realm.
Return to the chapel and ring the bell
Come back to the place of worship and sound the bell to signal the start of judgment.
Punish all the sinners, cleanse their souls
Reprimand all transgressors and purge their spirits of wrongdoing.
Drive the evil spirits back into their holes
Banish maleficent entities to their places of confinement.
Into the fire, the bodies burn
Bodies are set alight and incinerated.
Into the fire, there's no return
Once thrown into the flames, there is no coming back.
Feel the heat, the temperatures rise
Sensations of intense heat as the fire gets hotter.
Feel the heat, it's in your eyes
The heat is so intense that it causes discomfort in the eyes.
Raised from the dead, your body's alive
Having been resurrected, the body is brought back to life.
Escaped from the torture, you have survived
Having endured torment, you have managed to elude it and live on.
Your face is scarred to skin and bone
Your countenance bears wounds that have penetrated to the bone.
Scream for mercy with a howling moan
Cry out for leniency and plead with a wailing expression.
Calling all sinners who paid the price
Summoning all those guilty of transgression who have suffered the consequence.
Return to the chapel your sacrifice
Come back to the place of worship to make recompense.
You fought the black spirits, you thought you'd won
You engaged in combat with wicked entities, believing you were victorious.
The battle of evil has just begun
The conflict against malevolence is only just starting.
CHORUS:
Refrain that repeats at intervals.
REPEAT CHORUS:
Instructions to repeat the refrain.
Contributed by Emily R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.