Album Review: Sonus Mortis – Collapse the Mountain (Self Released)

The work of multi-instrumentalist Kevin Byrne (ex-Valediction), symphonic death and doom metal band, Sonus Mortis will release ‘Collapse the Mountain’ on December 1st, 2022.

Yes! Sonus Mortis is back! The solo work of the immensely talented Kevin Byrne, Sonus Mortis’ 2021 album ‘Past Lives’ was a bit of a banger. So, it’s great to hear new heavy and hench metal from the man.

Collapse the Mountain is a heavy and hench record. One that you can delight in wrecking some neck muscles with. Yet, the intricate detail, progressive meatiness, lightly layered symphonic elements and blending of genres can’t be ignored. Sure, you can turn the volume up loud and bang your head to it, but it warrants a deeper look as it is so layered.

Especially when the album kicks off with such a beast of a track as it does with Holistic Cult. The frenzy of instrumentation, furious growls and smattering of symphonic extravagance is an instant hit of adrenaline.

Keeping the tempo hot, Render Us All Obsolete has chunky sounding guitars, the vocals are spat out with venom and there’s some surprising melody. Whereas No Compromise is one of the nastier sounding tracks with its garish heavy intensity and Faoi Thalamh has Sonus Mortis adding a thick layer of atmosphere as a blackened level of heaviness seeps through.

Four tracks deep and few won’t be entrenched in what Sonus Mortis is offering here. The refinement in this record, clear. The progression, impressive.

With Traumatic Amputation, Sonus Mortis just goes hell for leather. Delivering a 90-second blast of death-infused noise. Followed by the sinister ferocity of Universe 25, the monolithic grandeur of Reveal the Arteries and Attach the Leeches, and the smash-mouth brutality of Rat Race Ritual. Track after track of wicked heaviness, layered with incredible instrumental detail and delivered with a throat full of gravel.

Sonus Mortis manages to not only grab the attention with Collapse the Mountain, it manages to keep things interesting. So much so, that a penultimate track passing the seven-minute mark is a source of excitement rather than fear. It’s the title track and Sonus Mortis really flexing the doom muscles and continuing to show an insane level of attention to every moment as it twists and turns in the darkness.

Finally, it’s another epic with Nanotech Required. The technicalities of the guitar work given more focus but the base elements that make the music so unforgettable still heavily present. This is a rich and sumptuous finale and an apt closer to what is sure to seen as the best work from Sonus Mortis to date.

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