Mary Mortem Phantoms of the Fall

Mary Mortem is a unique, hard to place individual and project; certainly a sonic phenomenon of the current day and age. With a myriad of influences and variety of styles under her belt, she has been steadily evolving and honing her craft for the near past decade in the underground of Oklahoma. With origins unusually rooted in what I guess would maybe be best described as post-Lil’ Peep/Wicca Phase Springs Eternal “emo rap” (which I know will alarm some potential listeners), the trajectory and outcome that led Mary Mortem to her modern manifestation is as equally unexpected as it is unsurprising, oxymoronic as that may sound. On the self-released Phantoms of the Fall, the first album of the Mary Mortem alias to be recorded with a full band, we see the project truly hit its stride, unlocking its full potential. From a solo electronic artist that would be at home in a Soundcloud scene to a full band of killer doom and gloom.

Let me preface this with, I was and am a fan of the older work of Mary Mortem, the depressive production and catchy, swooning vocals are undeniably infectious and her live performances have always been excellent, even as a true solo artist. However, Phantoms of the Fall is a whole other ballgame and really sits apart from the project's previous discography. In fact, I think it’s kind of hard to lump this era of Mary Mortem together with the past renditions of itself. Most of the electronic elements and witch house influence are long gone. What is now presents is, and stick with me here, best described as a three way marriage of the general atmosphere of Katatonia (the later material), the vocals and emotive guitar leads of Thou (without the supremely heavy and crushing riffage), and the vocals and instrumentality of modern shoegaze music; and hell, we can even trace some newer era Deftones influence in there too. Mary Mortem 2025 may as well be a totally new project under the same name.

Again, I think your traditionalists and classic metal heads out there won’t appreciate this record, if they haven’t already been completely dissuaded by the first couple of descriptions. Go ahead and not bother continuing to read this review if you are one of those people, no offense. You’ll be missing out though. Seriously, it’s a killer record. Phantoms of the Fall is so damn moody, fantastically romantic and sinister even, like Cradle of Filth’s Nymphetamine (another similarly polarizing but also widely celebrated record).

The writing is really exceptional, and extremely catchy. The songs are all very distinct sonically, but flow in a way that is very cohesive and the overall atmosphere of the album is never lost and actually hangs around after a listen. As I write this, it is roughly my tenth time listening to it since it was sent to me, and it is still just as enjoyable as when I first listened to it. The instrumentation would probably, mostly, be kin to doom metal in its pacing and general emphasis of the lingering low end, though using that as the blanket description feels a little inappropriate, as similarly to gothic metal records, there are some faster, grooving and moving moments too. The drums are dramatic, reverb laden and really drive, as well as accent, songs in a very tasteful, not overly indulgent way. The guitar playing features emotive leads with an occasional, almost black metal in style, tone to it as well as the rhythm guitar. The bass is lumbering, and though I wouldn’t describe it as a highlight of the record, plays a clear, and most importantly, audible, backbone to each of the songs. Vocally, Mary utilizes a lot of wet, clean vocals. I am not typically super into clean vocals, but it works fabulously on this record and juxtaposed with her scathing, fantastic high end screams sprinkled throughout, it is definitely a captivating listen. The production is very modern and high end, which I also don’t necessarily usually love, but for Phantoms of the Fall, it perfectly frames the music.

Bottom line: Come with an open mind. Mary Mortem’s Phantoms of the Fall is an extremely exciting introduction into her new world of full band music and promises some even stronger later records. It is an extremely listenable, doomgaze album with pop-like production particularly geared to a new generation of metal fans. And it works. Very well, actually. But undoubtedly it will be criticized by certain audiences for, ironically, some of the same reasons that make it such a great record (its genre blending, tidy production, and catchy melodies and songwriting). Some favorites include “Dead in Oologah,” and the album's singles “A Long Crawl in for You” and “Lifeless and on Your Back."