Mortiis Era1

The music Mortiis created in Era 1 with The Stargate, Crypt of the Wizard and Fodt Til A Heske, Keiser av en dimensjon Ukjent and Anden som gjorde Oppror... had me spellbound from the moment they were first played.
They captivated me in such a way that I can still listen to them today and experience the same feelings of enchantment as I did when I listened ever so many years ago.
Mortiis has moved on immensely since Era 1, with Era 2 and the Smell of Rain, Era 3 the Grudge and the Grudge Remix: Some Kind Of Heroin.
We can only wait with baited breath for where he shall lead us next.
Era 1 is for remembrance; it is music which cannot be unheard or forgotten.
This page intends to untie those who feel passionately about Mortiis and the epic music he has created.
It is a fan space for those who wish to communicate with others who wish to step out of reality and into an ambient fairytale.

Havard Ellefsen introduced Mortiis to the world as an ambient solo project way back in times of old (the early 90’s) after playing bass with Norwegian black metal band Emperor.
All of the Era I albums were developed using synthesizers and medieval style instruments.
A sound was born which Mortiis himself describes as being “atmospheric dark dungeon music." Mortiis thus created a cult following.
Intrigued by his fantastic, bizarre mask, fans started to emerge from the shadows and embrace a different kind of darkness.
The darkness which Mortiis was creating was a music which, to be fully appreciated, requires focus to fully experience and enjoy it.

One of the greatest beauties of Era 1 music is that it is diverse from the other stages of Mortiis’s musical career.
You can be walking down an alley way surrounded by used syringes or through the countryside and be embraced by nature, night or day and your belief in reality is suspended as you journey with the lonesome travelers and pass through the gates of the stars to battle and beyond. The corrupt society around you can be forgotten for a few hours. The simplicity of the music twined with the enchanting lyrics has the power to bewitch and mesmerize.
The imagery created by it is unlike anything else.
The albums of Era 1 remind you that there is more to our lives than the world we see through first sight. Why should we always take everything as it is?
Why not look with a little more intent and see the world and the myths and folklore that have all but been forgotten.
Era 1 Mortiis is mysterious and often hidden, but let the only shadows about it be the fantastical once you encounter when you listen.

Fodt Til ÅA Herske, the first album by Mortiis represents him as a ‘composer, a performer, a visionary.’ Although hellish according to Mortiis, to record, a magnificent piece of dark, cold art emerged and continues today to enchant and enthrall.
The unique structure of a one track album (divided into two 25 minute parts) creates an atmosphere which is impossible to encounter with any other music. Unhinge your mind; step out of reality, cape yourself for the journey will chill, and the music of Fodt Til A Herske will carry you on the wings of a black swan to a land of dark fantasy.
The art work of Mortiis’s first masterpiece is awe inspiring, exciting and mythical.
An early picture of Mortiis’s, represents him as a Viking on the cover, and the CD itself displays a solemn, formidable but mightily impressive Viking shadow.
Fodt Til A Herske as a first album, in my opinion, is, in every sense, beautifully constructed artistry.

Mortiis’s very early ambient demo, lasting 59 minutes is astonishingly rich in its entirety. Mellow, somber almost ceremonious in its sound.
Difficult to get hold of, but worth every moment of your search.
The artwork although intricate and beautiful, is of little amount, but as an early demo, is wonderful.

The first release of Mortiis’s Era 1 solo project is magnificent and mesmerizing.
Tolkien and other fantasy works are evident to have inspired parts of the two generally melancholy, mournful yet stirring tracks.
Mortiis speaking in Norwegian comes as an unexpected surprise and is done in such a way as that it doesn’t disturb the enjoyment of the albums’s progression, only enhances it, as does the additional gusting wind sound effects among others.
Assumptions of what to visualize and why are again left to the listener.
The work of Swedish artist John Bauer compliments the style of the album and the innocence of the young child contrasts superbly with the dark undertones of the music.

The second of Mortiis’s early Era 1 releases, this album contains two beautifully constructed pieces of ambient dark music.
It is without a doubt that both pieces have a significant calming effect, remaining melodic throughout, with the additional haunting chant creating a more fantastical vision.
It’s difficult not to think about Tolkien’s work when listening, especially the Elves at Council, but naturally, as with all of Mortiis’s ambient work, you are taken to whatever fantastical universe you wish to be in.
The stunning work of John Bauer is eerily captivating, yet remains vague, allowing you to make your own assumptions and visions.

Blood and Thunder and Battle on Ice are short but significant pieces of ambient excellence.
Similar in style to Fodt Til A Herske, and similar imagery of journeying over barren lands and mountains is created, the only downside is you are cast back into reality too quickly, and the feeling of being somewhat rejected by the force of fantasy and fear is strong.

Crypt of the Wizard captivates from the moment you open the CD case and view the brilliant art work of John Bauer on the re-mastered CD.
Evidently inspired by Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and other fantasy aspects, this album is significantly less dark than previous Fodt Til A Heske and once again displays Mortiis’s talent in his ability to create ambient music that uses a different form and viewpoint.
Crypt of the Wizard is an album which when listening to, can be shared, and doesn’t require full focus like Fodt Til A Heske to appreciate its brilliance to the full extent.
The sensation of marching to battle to fight dark forces alongside fantastical beings can’t be avoided with many of the tracks and you encounter trickery with 'En Sirkel Rosmisk Kaos'.
Led into a false sense of security with elfish like music calming you, yet are soon interrupted with the harsh demonic like muttering voice and grating, obscure effects, brilliant in the sense you aren’t sure exactly what they are being created by, thus your mind wanders into uncharted territory, something I imagine Mortiis’s would have had in mind when releasing the album to the world.

The Stargate, once again leads us to worlds unknown.
Created entirely by Mortiis, except for ‘World Essence’ (Passing by an old raped village’ and ‘Army of Conquest.’ Sarah Jazebel Davis provides hauntingly beautiful vocals throughout the album, thus creating an atmosphere seperate from Fodt Til A Heske.
Davis is successful in creating a shiver down the spine, but the chill you encounter with The Stargate is different to that of Fodt Til A Heske, when you feel the cold enter your bones.
Mortiis proves that he can remain ambient and dark, yet take a different direction in the darkness, the direction lit by the stars.
Mortiis has created something of a narrative with the album and we are led from one region of space in the vast universe to another; the concept of the Stargate.
We travel grim journeys, encounter battles and villages, raped and burnt for their virgins and gold...through the music and lyrics, we see magic in the eyes of an old man, encounter a gate formed of stars and the promise of soon arriving in a new world.

In 2001, Earache released 850 signed copies of Mortiis’s book Secrets of my Kingdom.
Compiled of lyrics, short stories, writings and artwork along with a limited edition of The Stargate, the leather bound, 144 gold leaf paged, signed piece is now a collector’s item and is incredibly hard to get hold of.
Once in a while, a copy shall change hands over the internet for hundreds of pounds.

Mortiis takes new, uncharted trails, diverse, once again, from any other artist with Era 2, creating an ‘unintended’ gothic sound, complete with haunting, memorable melodies and captivating chanting choirs.
You shiver despite the room being heated and sitting half naked listening to the music.
Era 3, (Mortiis no longer a solo artist but a fully fledged band consisting on Leo Troy, Levi Gawron and Age Micheal Troite ) throws you into a black pit, which explodes with anger, aggression and fucking awesome guitar riffs and drumming.
You want to throw yourself back into it over and again until your bruised and knocked senseless and when you wake its’s on your mind straight away…