Mortiis is a music project from Notodden, Norway fronted by Håvard Ellefsen… Read Full Bio ↴Mortiis is a music project from Notodden, Norway fronted by Håvard Ellefsen, who is also known as the namesake of the band. The name is a misspelling of the word "mortis", which is the pronunciation used by the band. Mortiis started as the solo project of Ellefsen as a means to convey a story. This aspect was lost over time and Mortiis slowly formed into a band. Ellefsen previously played bass in the black metal band Emperor (1991-1992), prior to forming this project in 1993. The time he spent in his previous band laid the groundwork for mixing black metal elements with various electronic genres, with these being touched upon across each "era" of the band.
Håvard Ellefsen, often referred to as Mortiis, is the only constant band member. He was born in Skien, Telemark. Mortiis began his musical career playing bass for the black metal act Emperor. He stayed with the band just over one year before going on to create his own solo project, though unlike his previous band the music would be dark ambient oriented. Ellefsen was experimenting greatly with music during his early solo career. He started four separate projects, though the focus was always on Mortiis.
Ellefsen wrapped up work on the soundtrack to the movie Broken and The Devil's Chair (Renegade Films) in 2007. Both films were directed by Adam Mason who first worked with him on the Mortiis video for Decadent & Desperate. Having completed an album's worth of songs, Ellefsen commented at how they were "atmospheric and eerie" and also "very dark" while "some of it actually is semi-song structured, with some melody and sense to it." They were done under the Mortiis name. The collected music will eventually be released as a Mortiis album.
Mortiis as a band was formed shortly after the release of The Smell of Rain.
Dark Dungeon Music was the personal record label of Mortiis. It operated between 1995 and 1999 while Mortiis resided in Halmstad, Sweden, and released mostly limited-edition vinyl. It was dissolved as Mortiis moved back to Norway in late 1999.
For nearly the entirety of the band's existence, frontman Ellefsen has altered his facial appearance using several alternatives before using a prosthetic mask and ear set. The studio who made Mortiis' mask asked for a character reference for the moulding. The mask was always coupled with ears. During Era I the mask covered his whole face, though by Era III it had an appearance whereby it seemed to be falling off and was stitched in place. The mask was dropped after the release of Some Kind of Heroin. Having stated in an interview that the mask has been shelved "for better or worse", as part of the significance of Some Kind of Heroin.
Ellefsen's choice of dreadlocks (sometime after Era I), and various outfits helped produce the "Mortiis image". When asked as to what the mask represents he has answered, "I do not look upon myself as a goblin, or troll, or elf, or medieval. I am merely Mortiis." When talking about the influence for the imagery that his band uses, Ellefsen has commented, "A lot of people do not get that you can do more than just look like you're waiting for a bus. I mean how dull is that? I grew up with Kiss, W.A.S.P. and Alice Cooper.
The title of Era I was never intentional. It came about in 2001 when Mortiis was set to release The Smell of Rain, which was such a departure from his earlier records that he wanted to brand it in a way to signify this. All works previous to The Smell of Rain were thereafter referred to as Era I as a consequence. All of the Era I albums were composed entirely on synthesizers, creating a sound that Mortiis described as "dark dungeon music"- a fundamental influence on the later Dungeon Synth genre. The last album of this era, The Stargate, went a step further by introducing a wider range of instruments including acoustic guitars, flutes and dark vocals; mainly provided by Sarah Jezebel Deva.
Songs on The Smell of Rain were electropop, and frontman Ellefsen took to lead vocals for the first time. This would be the only release under the title of Era II. It was during this era that Ellefsen decided he needed to seek members to perform in a live setting, which later helped change how Mortiis as a band sounded. The first live shows with this new lineup and with Mortiis as frontman & vocalist took place in the United Kingdom in December 2001.
With Era III came The Grudge, which took an even more drastic turn from previous eras and is said to have made the biggest impression of any of his albums. The Grudge took on a heavy industrial rock emphasis, combining grinding guitars and industrial programming. Some of the longtime fans were again not too happy with this turn, but it helped gain Mortiis more new fans. In 2005, the Norwegian Culture Council selected The Grudge to be freely available for listening to the public in libraries across the country.
On 16 April 2007 Mortiis released a remix album titled Some Kind of Heroin, reworking material from The Grudge, via Earache Records. "Some Kind of Heroin" offers diverse remix material including interpretations by a wide range of contemporaries, such as Zombie Girl, Gothminister, Implant, XP8, PIG, The Kovenant, Velvet Acid Christ, Girls Under Glass, David Wallace, Kubrick, Flesh Field, Victor Vortexx, Dope Stars Inc, In the Nursery among others. In late 2009 and early 2010 earlier music has been partly reprogrammed and re-arranged for future live use.
On 10 October 2010 Mortiis released Perfectly Defect as a free internet only download album. Regarding why the album was free, Mortiis stated, "The new model of the music business is important to keep in mind; there's a new mentality out there in terms of how people acquire their music now." During this time and the subsequent tours, the visual appearance and sound was similar to that of Era III, but with a more Industrial appearance closer to Combichrist and without any form of mask which had been a key characteristic of previous eras. Although this is marked as being part of Era III, this could be construed as a movement in Era IV.
A four-year hiatus was broken on 8 June 2015 when a message placed on the band's Facebook page suggested a new album was on its way in a new era, Era 0. This was confirmed on 5 October 2015 when the release of the single "Doppelgänger," off the forthcoming album The Great Deceiver. The artwork for "Doppelgänger" included the familiar Mortiis logo, but with the Era 0 subscript, confirming the new Era. The album (The Great Deceiver) was originally finished in 2008, and included mixes by Chris Vrenna (of Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson).
Additional material was also finished with enough material for another album during 2009. To mark the return, Mortiis announced a series of US tours starting on 7 October 2015 with "The Devils Be Damned Tour". Despite the Era being 0, this was not a return to the original sound of Era I, but a continuation of that within Era III, again with complete lack of prosthetics or mask, but keeping the gothic/industrial costuming and face paint.
In January 2020, Mortiis returned to his Era 1 style of music with the album Spirit of Rebellion. The album was a reworking of his 1994 work Ånden som Gjorde Opprør, and was instigated after he was invited to perform at the 25th anniversary celebrations for former label Cold Meat Industry in 2017. In April 2020, he shared a work in progress tentatively entitled The Shadow of the Tower during the online Dungeon Synth festival 'Northeast Dungeon Siege'. An extract was also shared on Mortiis' Bandcamp page; again, the style of this new track reflected the style of the artist's early output. A previously unreleased 1997 track of the same name was released via the same website in October 2020, with Mortiis explaining that the piece had previously been used as atmospheric background music during his sporadic live shows of the era. A second such sample, entitled Blood Becomes Water, was released in July 2020.
Mortiis admitted to having long-held negative feelings about his 1990s output, feeling resentment towards perceived lack of quality in musicianship and production. However, he has since reassessed his detachment towards this material, and now sees renewed worth in the honesty and originality of his early records. In the period leading up to the release of Spirit of Rebellion, many of these early releases were reissued, having remained largely out of print for many years. Mortiis' 2001 book, Secrets of My Kingdom, was also reprinted as an expanded edition in 2018. Subtitled Return to Dimensions Unknown, the reprint featured new interviews, images and other archive material from the 1990s.
Side projects include Cintecele Diavolui, Fata Morgana, and Vond.
Håvard Ellefsen, often referred to as Mortiis, is the only constant band member. He was born in Skien, Telemark. Mortiis began his musical career playing bass for the black metal act Emperor. He stayed with the band just over one year before going on to create his own solo project, though unlike his previous band the music would be dark ambient oriented. Ellefsen was experimenting greatly with music during his early solo career. He started four separate projects, though the focus was always on Mortiis.
Ellefsen wrapped up work on the soundtrack to the movie Broken and The Devil's Chair (Renegade Films) in 2007. Both films were directed by Adam Mason who first worked with him on the Mortiis video for Decadent & Desperate. Having completed an album's worth of songs, Ellefsen commented at how they were "atmospheric and eerie" and also "very dark" while "some of it actually is semi-song structured, with some melody and sense to it." They were done under the Mortiis name. The collected music will eventually be released as a Mortiis album.
Mortiis as a band was formed shortly after the release of The Smell of Rain.
Dark Dungeon Music was the personal record label of Mortiis. It operated between 1995 and 1999 while Mortiis resided in Halmstad, Sweden, and released mostly limited-edition vinyl. It was dissolved as Mortiis moved back to Norway in late 1999.
For nearly the entirety of the band's existence, frontman Ellefsen has altered his facial appearance using several alternatives before using a prosthetic mask and ear set. The studio who made Mortiis' mask asked for a character reference for the moulding. The mask was always coupled with ears. During Era I the mask covered his whole face, though by Era III it had an appearance whereby it seemed to be falling off and was stitched in place. The mask was dropped after the release of Some Kind of Heroin. Having stated in an interview that the mask has been shelved "for better or worse", as part of the significance of Some Kind of Heroin.
Ellefsen's choice of dreadlocks (sometime after Era I), and various outfits helped produce the "Mortiis image". When asked as to what the mask represents he has answered, "I do not look upon myself as a goblin, or troll, or elf, or medieval. I am merely Mortiis." When talking about the influence for the imagery that his band uses, Ellefsen has commented, "A lot of people do not get that you can do more than just look like you're waiting for a bus. I mean how dull is that? I grew up with Kiss, W.A.S.P. and Alice Cooper.
The title of Era I was never intentional. It came about in 2001 when Mortiis was set to release The Smell of Rain, which was such a departure from his earlier records that he wanted to brand it in a way to signify this. All works previous to The Smell of Rain were thereafter referred to as Era I as a consequence. All of the Era I albums were composed entirely on synthesizers, creating a sound that Mortiis described as "dark dungeon music"- a fundamental influence on the later Dungeon Synth genre. The last album of this era, The Stargate, went a step further by introducing a wider range of instruments including acoustic guitars, flutes and dark vocals; mainly provided by Sarah Jezebel Deva.
Songs on The Smell of Rain were electropop, and frontman Ellefsen took to lead vocals for the first time. This would be the only release under the title of Era II. It was during this era that Ellefsen decided he needed to seek members to perform in a live setting, which later helped change how Mortiis as a band sounded. The first live shows with this new lineup and with Mortiis as frontman & vocalist took place in the United Kingdom in December 2001.
With Era III came The Grudge, which took an even more drastic turn from previous eras and is said to have made the biggest impression of any of his albums. The Grudge took on a heavy industrial rock emphasis, combining grinding guitars and industrial programming. Some of the longtime fans were again not too happy with this turn, but it helped gain Mortiis more new fans. In 2005, the Norwegian Culture Council selected The Grudge to be freely available for listening to the public in libraries across the country.
On 16 April 2007 Mortiis released a remix album titled Some Kind of Heroin, reworking material from The Grudge, via Earache Records. "Some Kind of Heroin" offers diverse remix material including interpretations by a wide range of contemporaries, such as Zombie Girl, Gothminister, Implant, XP8, PIG, The Kovenant, Velvet Acid Christ, Girls Under Glass, David Wallace, Kubrick, Flesh Field, Victor Vortexx, Dope Stars Inc, In the Nursery among others. In late 2009 and early 2010 earlier music has been partly reprogrammed and re-arranged for future live use.
On 10 October 2010 Mortiis released Perfectly Defect as a free internet only download album. Regarding why the album was free, Mortiis stated, "The new model of the music business is important to keep in mind; there's a new mentality out there in terms of how people acquire their music now." During this time and the subsequent tours, the visual appearance and sound was similar to that of Era III, but with a more Industrial appearance closer to Combichrist and without any form of mask which had been a key characteristic of previous eras. Although this is marked as being part of Era III, this could be construed as a movement in Era IV.
A four-year hiatus was broken on 8 June 2015 when a message placed on the band's Facebook page suggested a new album was on its way in a new era, Era 0. This was confirmed on 5 October 2015 when the release of the single "Doppelgänger," off the forthcoming album The Great Deceiver. The artwork for "Doppelgänger" included the familiar Mortiis logo, but with the Era 0 subscript, confirming the new Era. The album (The Great Deceiver) was originally finished in 2008, and included mixes by Chris Vrenna (of Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson).
Additional material was also finished with enough material for another album during 2009. To mark the return, Mortiis announced a series of US tours starting on 7 October 2015 with "The Devils Be Damned Tour". Despite the Era being 0, this was not a return to the original sound of Era I, but a continuation of that within Era III, again with complete lack of prosthetics or mask, but keeping the gothic/industrial costuming and face paint.
In January 2020, Mortiis returned to his Era 1 style of music with the album Spirit of Rebellion. The album was a reworking of his 1994 work Ånden som Gjorde Opprør, and was instigated after he was invited to perform at the 25th anniversary celebrations for former label Cold Meat Industry in 2017. In April 2020, he shared a work in progress tentatively entitled The Shadow of the Tower during the online Dungeon Synth festival 'Northeast Dungeon Siege'. An extract was also shared on Mortiis' Bandcamp page; again, the style of this new track reflected the style of the artist's early output. A previously unreleased 1997 track of the same name was released via the same website in October 2020, with Mortiis explaining that the piece had previously been used as atmospheric background music during his sporadic live shows of the era. A second such sample, entitled Blood Becomes Water, was released in July 2020.
Mortiis admitted to having long-held negative feelings about his 1990s output, feeling resentment towards perceived lack of quality in musicianship and production. However, he has since reassessed his detachment towards this material, and now sees renewed worth in the honesty and originality of his early records. In the period leading up to the release of Spirit of Rebellion, many of these early releases were reissued, having remained largely out of print for many years. Mortiis' 2001 book, Secrets of My Kingdom, was also reprinted as an expanded edition in 2018. Subtitled Return to Dimensions Unknown, the reprint featured new interviews, images and other archive material from the 1990s.
Side projects include Cintecele Diavolui, Fata Morgana, and Vond.
Abgrund
Mortiis Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Abgrund' by these artists:
Eisbrecher Stumpf und leer, Gehst du einher, Den schmalen Grat entlan…
Fae August Ich bin unterwegs, betäube Schmerzen Mir kann keiner helfen,…
Mantus Nur eine Lüge weit entfernt Und die Wahrheit kann uns ganz…
Miel Noir Am Abgrund Du stehst am Abgrund Folge mir Komm Nur noch eine…
Rêverie Wir waren lange Jahre fort Wir zogen aus, die Welt zu…
Sleipnir Du spürst dass es nicht mehr aufwärts geht, Innerlich hast d…
Tic Tac Toe Könnt ihr das nicht seh´n? Wir fall´n zurück ins Mittelater!…
Tone feat. Xavier Naidoo Ihr wart dem Abgrund noch nie so nah Und lauft mit…
Xavier Naidoo Ihr wart dem Abgrund noch nie so nah Und lauft mit…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Mortiis:
01- Scar Trek (Parasite God We are floating - Above the mountains. Watching all the…
06. Everyone Leaves I'm going back, thinking about all the changes. I'm going ba…
06. Towards the Gate of Stars [lyrics not available]…
07. Twist the Knife Capture it de-humanize it You nurture it you devour it Promi…
Across the World of Wonders Harken! Warriors, for our creator now urge us onwards... Aga…
an Old and Raped Village Through boughs and leaves and stone on ground. I feel a…
And Old Raped Village Through boughs and leaves and stone on ground. I feel a…
Antimental The marsh land that is down and deep, Holds me tight…
Army of Conquest/The Warfare The stars form the gate again Soon we shall arrive in…
Bleed Like You As I Descend Into What Is Left Of Me I Have…
Broken Skin Does it bother you did it not obey you? Does it…
Broken Skin Feat Stephan Groth Does it bother you did it not obey you? Does it…
Closer to the End It only took a second and it all fell down You…
Decadent Beat down, fucked up. I'm drinkin' blood from the devil's c…
Decadent and Desperate Beat down, fucked up. I'm drinkin' blood from the devil's cu…
Demons are Back I Got You Down I Got You Good I Killed You…
Doppelganger Verse 1 I am the only one you can really trust I…
En Mork Horisont English translate: Reflections Of Horizont's Dark In all …
En Mørk Horisont English translate: Reflections Of Horizont's Dark In…
En mшrk horisont Jeg ser der borte mrke skoger. Og jeg hrer triste stemmer…
Everyone Leaves I'm going back, thinking about all the changes. I'm going ba…
Flux / Mental Maelstrom I want you to descend. I want you to fall…
Flux Mental Maelstrom I want you to descend. I want you to fall down. I…
Flux/Mental Maelstrom I want you to descend. I want you to fall down. I…
Født Til Å Herske Part I Han var født før egen tid Men han vandret alikevel igjenom…
Gibber (They) tell me I ain't real That I'm a fantasy How do…
Grudge Trying to think of you as some kind of heroine Trying…
Hard to Believe Maybe I Was Wrong Maybe I Was Right Maybe It Was Anger Mayb…
I Am the World I am the world The world beyond the stars... I am the…
Keiser av en dimension ukjent Nå føler jeg att tiden er naer. Min visdom, Mine tanker,…
Le Petit Cochon Sordide I broke my back for you I spilt my blood for…
Loneliest Thing She bought all the good karma in the world And now…
Marshland I have been here for too long. In this lonesome twisted…
Mental Maelstrom I want you to descend. I want you to fall down. I…
Monolith Go away from me. I just want to flee. The god i…
Parasite God We are floating - Above the mountains. Watching all the…
Perfectly Defect Bleeding, naked, torn asunder Lies busted open, your world …
Petit Cochon Sordide I broke my back for you I spilt my blood for…
reisene til grotter og ødemarker Jeg har hatt en vision, om kongeriket som omfavner universet…
Reisene til grotter og ødemarker Jeg har hatt en vision, om kongeriket som omfavner universe…
Road to Ruin Everyone Is Moving On Moving On Moving On Looks Like My…
Scar Trek We are floating - Above the mountains. Watching all the…
Sins of Mine Here They Come The Sins I Don't Know How To…
Smell the Witch It's been ten long years since I smelled the witch. I…
Spirit In A Vacum Mental Maelstrom beckons me, To fall into the core. The Cent…
Spirit of Conquest Spiritus Domini [repeat] We conquer now this world Weapon i…
The Grudge Trying to think of you as some kind of heroine Trying…
The Loneliest Thing She bought all the good karma in the world And now…
the shining lamp of god I'll Say Anything I Think You Wanna Hear Me Say I…
The Ugly Truth I want to take it all away I need to pillage…
The Worst in Me I could have found a way I would have found a…
Thieving Bastards It's all coming down It's all coming down It's all coming …
This Absolution Need it, I don't want it I need it. I don't…
too little too late I'm In Too Deep I've Been In Too Long I'm Out Of…
Towards the Gate of Stars [lyrics not available]…
Twist the Knife Capture it de-humanize it You nurture it you devour it Promi…
Vandreren's sang [Instrumental]…
Visjoner av en Eldgammel Fremtid English translate: Visions Of Future Centuries Ago …
Way To Wicked I killed my muse yesterday or was it yesteryear? And I…
WAY TOO WICKED (PSYCOTIC COMATOSE MIX I killed my muse yesterday, or was it yesteryear? And…
World Essence [Instumental]…
Worst In Me I could have found a way I would have found a…
You Put a Hex On Me Dancing round the burning fire. Calling out the names of the…
{Passing by} an old and raped Village Through boughs and leaves and stone on ground. I feel a…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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