MORBIKON Announces First Ever Live Performances!
Photographer: M. JoyceMorbikon, the black metal project of veteran extreme metal guitarist/bassist Phil “Land Phil” Hall has announced a series of live shows. The opening date at the Black Circle in Minneapolis with grindcore band Exhumed will mark the first time Morbikon has performed in front of an audience. The group formed in 2020 and two years later produced the band’s debut album Ov Mournful Twilight which was released in 2022 but production was completed two years earlier during more turbulent times.
“We completed the album Ov Mournful Twilight in the middle of the pandemic not considering any live show prospects. Now, three years after the inception of the band, we finally have the opportunity to play the music live.”
While these live appearances are the first for Morbikon as a band, individually the members are highly experienced metal musicians. Hall has been a member of the thrash metal band Municipal Waste, death metal legends Cannabis Corpse, and metal supergroup Iron Regan. Drummer Dave Witte previously played with Hall in Municipal Waste and grindcore band Discordance Axis. Vocalist Mathias “Vreth” Lillmåns was recruited from the Finnish metal scene.
“Getting Dave Witte involved pushed the music to a new level, and then an awesome opportunity came to work with the outstanding vocalist Mathias Lillmåns from the Finnish band Finntroll.”
Songwriter Quotidius worked with Hal to write lyrics. The result of this collaboration is the album Ov Mournful Twilight released via Tankcrimes. The album harkens back to the second wave of Scandinavian black metal of the ‘90s.
“Morbikon was started as a passion project between myself and my writing partner Quotidius in 2020 to express our love of early ‘90s black metal while simultaneously blowing off some steam trapped in a quarantine.”
Ov Mournful Twilight Track List: 1. Consumed by Entropy 2. Universal Funeral 3. Cursed to March on Shattered Limbs 4. Deaththirst 5. Ov Mournful Twilight 6. In Ritual Isolation 7. Borne of Phantom Vessel 8. Infinite Pathways to the Earthen Grave While Mathias Lillmåns provided the vocals on Ov Mournful Twilight, he will not be participating in the advertised shows. Hall has brought in another vocalist as well as other musicians to fill out the band.
“Unfortunately, the logistics of bringing Mathias Lillmåns all the way from Finland has proved to be infeasible. Stepping into the role of vocalist will be original lyricist Quotidius. We are also welcoming guitarists Toby Swope (Psychosomatic) and Adam Guilliams (Cannabis Corpse). Drums will be handled by Dave Witte. We are looking forward to playing live and bringing these awesome tunes to everyone soon!”
Morbikon has produced two singles off Ov Mournful Twilight. The singles, “Universal Funeral” and “Borne of Phantom Vessel” and complimented by a pair of music videos that are the first two chapters of the Animated Nightmare series. The videos tell a sword and sorcery tale that was written, edited, animated, and directed by Hall. Further chapters in this gritty fantasy story are set to be released in due time.
