MORTIFER - If Tomorrow Comes (Metal-Agen Records, 2000)

This is going to be the first post in a series on Russian punk, metal and new wave I plan on doing. I don't have all the necessary equipment set up yet to make mp3's from vinyl, so I will start with some slightly more modern, CD material before we move into the the early 90's and the 1980's vinyl era stuff. I will try to post as much mp3's as possible while bandwidth permits, if the track selection is small that means I've just posted highlights.

I purchased this on a whim, mainly because I liked the cover. The music was not exactly what I expected however, instead of Helloween meets Kublai Khan power-thrash which was really popular in Russia, I got nearly 40 minutes of solid "Master of Puppets" worship. Which also makes sense since Metallica was a huge influence on Soviet metal as well - no wonder, huh? There is a Running Wild - "Realm of Shades" cover present, so some power-thrash influence IS there. For cultural reasons, almost every Russian metal album seems to contain at least one token "ballad" and usually that song is the worst track on the album. "If Tomorrow Comes" doesn't break the mold in this aspect, a very long and ridiculous ballad is in fact present and I would say is the only dud here. Overall this is a solid thrash LP, and a decent start to our foray into Russian metal, as we go back in time the quality will only increase, just have to get those mp3's ripped and hosted and we'll be off. For now check out some tracks from "If Tomorrow Comes" and stay tuned.

If Tomorrow Comes
Crematory's Yard
Realm Of Shades (Running Wild)