The first thing that one notices when listening to Mortuary Drape's Secret Sudaria is that the band seems to have abandoned their attempts at making melodic/ambient songs, like the one's found on their Into the Drape/Mourn Path album. The new songs are more focused. They are clean and, while not raw, they have been simplified. It is pleasing to find a band who, finding that a particular formula doesn't work, is willing to adapt their style.

The second thing that you should notice about this album, is the production quality. Unlike most black metal releases, Mortuary Drape actually record audible bass lines. I would go so far as to say that these are bass-driven songs, where the guitar actually acts as a backup to the bass. Similarily, the recording of the drums is phenomenal. I have never heard such clean, precise drum sounds; the drums actually sound live, as if you were in the room with them.

Stylistically, be prepared for an album that blurs the lines between black and death metal. The album features songs that are, while not overly complex, always very rhythmic (due, in part, to the mixing noted above). The guitar and bass lines follow each other for the most part, creating a unique, if simple, song texture. The drumming is again atypical. Mortuary Drape's drummer is able to keep the songs simple, but interesting, by using unusual rhythms and timings instead of blastbeats.

Mortuary Drape is a very interesting, unique black-death band. One of the most brutal black metal bands out there, they should appeal to a wide variety of fans (due to the genre cross-over). A fine release.

9/10

Teufel.