EXCLUSIVE SINGLE: Apex – Mortifier [2014]

Artwork

Artist: Apex

Single: “Mortifier”

 

It’s truly an odd thing to be really petrified. Scared stiff, as it were, completely unable to move a muscle or twitch a solitary digit for sheer, spine-straightening fear. It is truly the most nerve-wracking way to lose control of your own body—knowing that moving might be the very thing that could save you—yet, it is the very thing your body can’t seem to bring itself to do. What is it that’s terrifying you? What can’t you save yourself from? “Mortifier,” the debut track by technical deathcore juggernauts Apex. Armed to the ever-so-menacing teeth with spine-rending, razor-sharp riffs, bone-crushing and brutalizing heaviness and a dynamic combination of inventive song structure and straightforward aggression, Apex have everything it takes to scare the listener stiff and senselessly shatter them into dust and flesh.

“Mortifier” opens with a relentless assault of lacerating blast beats and punishing, pervasive vocals—and doesn’t do much to let up for its entire three minute run time. Furiously fretted riffs rip, pull and tear at the listener’s skin, exposing bone and sanity alike—fresh, supple targets for the percussion and vocals to set their sights on. While the percussion rattles and fires away like machine guns made of pure stone, the vocals let loose with an absolutely incessant attack, making mince meat of the listener’s mind. High, intense screams and low, bellowed growls wreak tandem terror on the listener, topped off with a brilliantly executed mid-range yell that fills in the gaps between the two extremes, the vocals throughout “Mortifier” are absolutely excellent. These elements—the instrumentation and vocals—work together to create an immersive terrifying dynamic that will have the listener so horrified they can move only one muscle in their body—the one that lets them restart the track once it’s done.

5/5

For Fans Of: The Acacia Strain, I Declare War, Molotov Solution, Hail to the King

By: Connor Welsh