Mortifer

1.Thrash metal band Mortifer was formed in July 1988 in Kostroma (Russia) by Sergey Novikov (guitar & vocals) and his pal Anatoly Chebotarj (drums). Two years earlier, they used to appear at parties in a local Medical College performing pop songs and even covers of AC/DC and Alice Cooper. It was rather venturesome to play such “dangerous” stuff in those times... The risk was related to anti-Western policy of the former USSR. After Sergey’s return from military service, the guys decided to form a band to play exceptionally heavy kind of music. Within a month the band's line-up was completed. Sergey’s College classmate Alexander Kamenschikov joined on bass. On the first demo tape there was Valeriy Mukhin as a lead guitar player, but he has abandoned the band in half a year, having preferred to play in restaurants and take care of his family. At that time the band name was Knyaz Serebryanny (The Silver Knight). They were playing mostly covers of Savatage, Dio, Loudness, Ozzy, Saxon, etc., but also had started writing their own material in a hard'n'heavy vein. The lyrics were all in Russian then. It wasn’t until 1991 when they have switched over to English lyrics and started to play a radical (for those times) style - aggressive thrash metal. The new material was recorded as a demo in 1992, but later on it was re-recorded and released as their debut album "Euthanasia" in 1993 by BIZ Enterprises (Death City Records). Release of such kind of music was considered a breakthrough event at that period. But having succumbed to the demand of music market, BIZ Enterprises (at that time BIZ became the Polygram branch in Russia) soon has re-orientated to pop field and has abrogated all contracts with hard rock bands. During its existence, Mortifer appeared on stage with various bands from Russia and Belarus, such as Hellraiser, Black Obelisk, Korrozia Metalla, Trizna, Abadonna, Exhumator, Tornado etc., at numerous fests and gigs. By that time, Mortifer had written and recorded new material for the next album, which appeared in MC format under the title "Blind Faith". From 1995 to 1999 the band members were concentrated on their family lives and hardly ever played together. However, a new material was prepared and the album "If Tomorrow Comes" secured them a deal with MetalAgen Records. The CDs reached shops in early February 2000. On March, 5th 2000 Mortifer played as a supporting act for Kreator in Moscow. Almost simultaneously Sergey Novikov had released his solo project “X- Factor", which combined songs with Russian lyrics that had been written even in 1988-1989. The album also contained three covers: "Fly Away" (Mad Max), "Breaking The Law" (Judas Priest) and "Belladonna" (U.F.O.). Sergey Novikov played all instruments alone, including drum programming. The year 2000 saw the first change in the band line-up since 1988. The bassist’s younger brother, Konstantin Kamenschikov, replaced the original drummer. A second guitar player, Alexander Kukin, joined the band as well. Both new members used to play in a death-metal band “Extinction”. In May 2001 Mortifer played at Metalagen Fest with Gods Tower, Nordream, T.H.R.O.N., Izakaron. In early 2002 the band gathered in studio for recording a new album "Blind Faith". One month later Mortifer appeared as a special guests at Sodom live show in Moscow. In parallel, they began working under new material for a new album “Total Darkness”. On September, 29th 2003 Mortifer, together with Mind Eclipse, opened the show for Austrian legend Pungent Stench in "Partizan" club (Yaroslavl). On October, 26th 2003 the band appeared at Thrash Metal Festival in Moscow with Manic Depression, Stalwart, Diversia and Factura. During February to mid April 2004 the band recorded a new album “Total Darkness” in Sergey Novikov’s own studio (“SPN studio”). In December 2004, the album, consisting of 10 new tracks together with 4 cover bonuses of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, AC/DC and The Beatles, was released by a well-known Russian label CD-Maximum. Shortly after completion of “Total Darkness”, the band started working on its next, 5th album. In February 2006 Mortifer recorded its fifth album called “Cybernized”. It was released later the same year by Moscow young label Mazzar/Mystic Empire. In January 2007 Metalism Records signed a deal with the band to re-release Mortifer’s debut album “Euthanasia” on CD. 2. A black metal band from Belgium founded in 1996 playing black "horror" metal. The band is currently looking for a new drummer. Released a full cd 'Damned after Dying' in 2000. EP 'Epitaph' in 2005. 3. Mortifer is an Serbian death metal band which was formed in the spring of 2006. Former members of Nakot Nevena & Boris and two members of Dylan Dog Dejana & Marko, came to an idea to form a new band. Mortifer had a couple a gigs in 2007, and in 2008 the group self released it's first album Proleće je stiglo, which contains 8 tracks. It seems that the band will go on indefinite hiatus, because the lead singer Nevena will leave the country.... 4. Mortifer is the name of black metal musician from the Netherlands, who is known for his work with projects such as Hell Icon and Hellfire Nemesis. Occasionally material is recorded as part of a solo project under the Mortifer pseudonym. 5. Mortifer was a heavy metal band from Slovakia with 2 demos: Nincs kiút (2002), Promo (2004). Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.