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.
Smell the Witch
Mortiis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I don't think she will ever go away.
Do you think that's her lurking over there?
In that shadow that has been cast by me?
Can you smell the witch?
The witch is still alive.
Can you smell the witch?
I wanted you to go away.
Can you smell the witch?
The witch will never go away.
Does she hide in that old corner over there?
Are you dead when you are made of straw?
Is she still in that old house? The lonely old house.
Far away from everyone else. Her smell was stron up there.
The first time I saw you.
I smelt you more than I could see you.
The smell won't go away.
Is this how fear smells?
Does fear smell like a witch?
Come on smell the witch.
Can you smell the witch?
Sneaking up behind.
Can you smell the witch?
Can you feel the fear?
I want to go far away.
Can you smell the witch?
The witch will never go away.
In Mortiis's song Smell the Witch, the artist describes his experience with the supernatural, particularly with a witch that he has encountered. The song starts with "It's been ten long years since I smelled the witch," indicating that it has been a long time since he last encountered the witch. However, he believes that she will never truly go away, as he senses her presence lurking in the shadows.
Throughout the song, there is a strong focus on the sense of smell - the artist repeatedly asks if the listener can smell the witch. He also refers to various smells associated with fear, such as the smell of the witch and whether fear itself has a particular smell. The fear of the witch is palpable in the artist's descriptions, such as when he says "I see her dead eyes" and "Sneaking up behind."
The song also alludes to various elements of classic witch stories, such as witches hiding in corners, being made of straw, and residing in lonely old houses. These elements add to the eerie and unsettling atmosphere of the song.
Overall, Smell the Witch is successful in creating a creepy and mysterious atmosphere, with its references to supernatural elements and the artist's accounts of feeling fear and sensing the witch's presence.
Line by Line Meaning
It's been ten long years since I smelled the witch.
It has been a decade since the last time I sensed the presence of the witch.
I don't think she will ever go away.
I believe that the witch will always linger around.
Do you think that's her lurking over there?
Is it possible that the witch is concealing herself in that location?
In that shadow that has been cast by me?
Could it be that the witch is cloaked in the darkness created by my own figure?
Can you smell the witch?
Are you able to perceive the odor of the witch?
The witch is still alive.
The witch has not perished and still exists.
I see her dead eyes.
I recognize her dormant gazes.
I wanted you to go away.
I hoped that you would leave and not sense the witch's presence.
Does she hide in that old corner over there?
Is the witch concealed in that deserted spot?
Are you dead when you are made of straw?
If one's body is constructed of straw, can they no longer be considered alive?
Is she still in that old house? The lonely old house.
Is the witch still in her former dwelling, that neglected and solitary dwelling?
Far away from everyone else. Her smell was strong up there.
Far apart from the rest of humanity, the witch's scent prevailed in that location.
The first time I saw you.
The initial instance in which I witnessed your form.
I smelt you more than I could see you.
I sensed your essence more than I was able to see your appearance.
The smell won't go away.
The odor continues to pervade the atmosphere.
Is this how fear smells?
Is this the fragrance of terror?
Does fear smell like a witch?
Is the scent of the witch the same as the scent of fear?
Come on smell the witch.
I implore you to perceive the aroma of the witch.
Sneaking up behind.
Moving furtively from the rear.
Can you feel the fear?
Are you aware of the sense of dread?
I want to go far away.
I yearn to put as much distance as I can between myself and the witch.
The witch will never go away.
The witch will forever remain present and never dissipate.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind