Scrolls of the Megilloth
Encyclopedia
Scrolls of the Megilloth is the Christian
extreme metal
band Mortification
's third release and second full length recording, released in 1992. The band's most famous release, this album is full-on death metal
, with the thrash metal
roots barely showing, and possibly their most extreme album to date. According to Allmusic, the album "garnered the band some attention from the heavy metal underground" and contains "some of the most frightening vocals ever recorded." Scrolls of the Megilloth has been recognized as a piece of Australian metal history. The album had as big impact on the 1990s Christian metal music as Stryper
's To Hell with the Devil
had on the 1980s Christian metal era. This album brought the band to the elite of the early 1990s death metal movement, is considered to be Mortification's best effort by many fans, and it became so respected and acclaimed that all the band's following releases would be compared to it. Four music videos were shot of the album, three of them released on the video compilation Grind Planets
(1992). In 2010, HM Magazine ranked Scrolls of the Megilloth #17 on the Top 100 Christian metal albums of all time list with Van Pelt stating that "Though the band has been living it down ever since, this album raised the standard of Christian grindcore to almost unattainable levels."
, Melbourne
, and mixed at Toybox Studios, Northcore, Melbourne. The album was produced by Doug Saunders. Mortification's line up consisted of the bassist-vocalist Steve Rowe
, guitarist Michael Carlisle, and drummer Jayson Sherlock
. Both Carlisle and Sherlock did some background vocals, and Sherlock played lead guitar on the last song "Ancient Prophecy" because Carlisle was a more experienced rhythm guitarist than lead guitarist, therefore the album does not contain guitar solos.
tuned guitar riff, turns into a chaotic speed as the vocals by Steve Rowe growl the words "Nocturnal/ Creatures of the night" with the word "Creatures" sung in a frightening shrieking voice. After this the album continues on the grindcore
influenced death metal
direction, reminiscent of the British bands Bolt Thrower, Napalm Death
, and Carcass
. A mostly up-tempo album, the songs "Raise the Chalice" and the epic "Ancient Prophecy" take a more mid-tempo approach. Scrolls of the Megilloth is characterized by Jayson Sherlock's odd and fast blast beat drumming, Michael Carlisle's aggressive but precise rhythm guitar work, Steve Rowe's double layered "grind baritone vocals of extreme reality", and high tuned, apparent, and groovy bass playing. Rowe's vocals get extremely guttural on a verse on the song "Ancient Prophecy" that cites a prophecy of King James Version of Isaiah 53:5. The title song "Scrolls of the Megilloth," which begins with a haunting organ melody before turning into a chaotic tune, is one of the best known songs on the album and was released as a single. "Death Requiem" contains a gloomy speaking voice interpreting a funeral event.
, violence
, occult
, and horror
from a Christian
point of view: On "Eternal Lamentation," the ungodly scream their pain in the fiery pits of hell; "Terminate Damnation" is about spiritual warfare against evil and moral impurity, and "Necromanicide" warns against communicating with the dead through spiritism because "only demons answer their call". The title "Scrolls of the Megilloth" is a term in the Old Testament
that means The Five Scrolls (Five Megillot): Ruth
, Esther
, Song of Solomon, Lamentations
, and Ecclesiastes
. The song deals with the purposes of these books. According to the album liner notes, Steve Rowe studied at a Bible college a year before the album was recorded and he learned that these books were read at feasts and celebrations of significant Jewish dates. Rowe writes: "When we read 2 Timothy 3:16 we realised that all scriptures are there for a purpose and should all be studied to guide us."
Christian metal
Christian metal, also known as white metal, is a form of heavy metal music usually defined by its message in a song's lyrics as well as the band's dedication to Christianity...
extreme metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
band Mortification
Mortification (band)
Mortification is an Australian Christian extreme metal band which was formed in 1987 as a heavy metal group, Lightforce, by mainstay Steve Rowe on bass guitar and vocals. By 1990, in the Melbourne suburb of Moorabbin, they were renamed as Mortification with the line-up of Rowe, Michael Carlisle on...
's third release and second full length recording, released in 1992. The band's most famous release, this album is full-on death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
, with the thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
roots barely showing, and possibly their most extreme album to date. According to Allmusic, the album "garnered the band some attention from the heavy metal underground" and contains "some of the most frightening vocals ever recorded." Scrolls of the Megilloth has been recognized as a piece of Australian metal history. The album had as big impact on the 1990s Christian metal music as Stryper
Stryper
Stryper is a Christian glam metal band from Orange County, California. The group's lineup consists of Michael Sweet , Oz Fox , Tim Gaines , and Robert Sweet...
's To Hell with the Devil
To Hell with the Devil
To Hell with the Devil is the Grammy Award nominated third release, and second full-length album, by the Christian metal and glam metal band Stryper, released in 1986 . It was both the first Contemporary Christian and Christian metal album to achieve Platinum status, selling over one million copies...
had on the 1980s Christian metal era. This album brought the band to the elite of the early 1990s death metal movement, is considered to be Mortification's best effort by many fans, and it became so respected and acclaimed that all the band's following releases would be compared to it. Four music videos were shot of the album, three of them released on the video compilation Grind Planets
Grind Planets
Grind Planets is the first official DVD released by MortificationThere are three versions of Grind Planets. The first was a VHS released in1992. A second VHS was released in 1994...
(1992). In 2010, HM Magazine ranked Scrolls of the Megilloth #17 on the Top 100 Christian metal albums of all time list with Van Pelt stating that "Though the band has been living it down ever since, this album raised the standard of Christian grindcore to almost unattainable levels."
Recording
Scrolls of the Megilloth was recorded at Studio RBX, RichmondRichmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, and mixed at Toybox Studios, Northcore, Melbourne. The album was produced by Doug Saunders. Mortification's line up consisted of the bassist-vocalist Steve Rowe
Steve Rowe
Steve Rowe is the founder, bass guitarist, and vocalist of the Australian Christian death metal band Mortification which was considered to be a major pioneer in the genre. Prior to forming Mortification he was in a traditional heavy metal styled Christian band known as LightForce...
, guitarist Michael Carlisle, and drummer Jayson Sherlock
Jayson Sherlock
Jayson Sherlock was the drummer for the Australian death metal band Mortification, which was considered to be a major pioneer in the genre.Sherlock was the founder of the one-man project Unblack metal band Horde, in which he played every instrument...
. Both Carlisle and Sherlock did some background vocals, and Sherlock played lead guitar on the last song "Ancient Prophecy" because Carlisle was a more experienced rhythm guitarist than lead guitarist, therefore the album does not contain guitar solos.
Music
Scrolls of the Megilloth begins with the intro of the song "Nocturnal", consisting noises of the night from chrirring crickets to croaking frogs, creating a dark cult horror movie feel. An ominous drum beat slowly becomes louder, accompanied by a drop DDrop D tuning
Drop D tuning, also known as DADGBE, is an alternate, or scordatura, form of guitar tuning — specifically, a dropped tuning — in which the lowest string is tuned down from the usual E of standard tuning by one whole step to D.- Uses of drop D tuning :In drop D the three bass strings...
tuned guitar riff, turns into a chaotic speed as the vocals by Steve Rowe growl the words "Nocturnal/ Creatures of the night" with the word "Creatures" sung in a frightening shrieking voice. After this the album continues on the grindcore
Grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....
influenced death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
direction, reminiscent of the British bands Bolt Thrower, Napalm Death
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...
, and Carcass
Carcass (band)
Carcass are an extreme metal band from England, who formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1995. A reunion was enacted in 2008 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons....
. A mostly up-tempo album, the songs "Raise the Chalice" and the epic "Ancient Prophecy" take a more mid-tempo approach. Scrolls of the Megilloth is characterized by Jayson Sherlock's odd and fast blast beat drumming, Michael Carlisle's aggressive but precise rhythm guitar work, Steve Rowe's double layered "grind baritone vocals of extreme reality", and high tuned, apparent, and groovy bass playing. Rowe's vocals get extremely guttural on a verse on the song "Ancient Prophecy" that cites a prophecy of King James Version of Isaiah 53:5. The title song "Scrolls of the Megilloth," which begins with a haunting organ melody before turning into a chaotic tune, is one of the best known songs on the album and was released as a single. "Death Requiem" contains a gloomy speaking voice interpreting a funeral event.
Lyrics and themes
The lyrics on Scrolls of the Megilloth are as extreme as the music, dealing with the common themes of death metal such as deathDeath
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
, violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
, occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
, and horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
from a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
point of view: On "Eternal Lamentation," the ungodly scream their pain in the fiery pits of hell; "Terminate Damnation" is about spiritual warfare against evil and moral impurity, and "Necromanicide" warns against communicating with the dead through spiritism because "only demons answer their call". The title "Scrolls of the Megilloth" is a term in the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
that means The Five Scrolls (Five Megillot): Ruth
Book of Ruth
The Book of Ruth is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh, or Old Testament. In the Jewish canon the Book of Ruth is included in the third division, or the Writings . In the Christian canon the Book of Ruth is placed between Judges and 1 Samuel...
, Esther
Book of Esther
The Book of Esther is a book in the Ketuvim , the third section of the Jewish Tanakh and is part of the Christian Old Testament. The Book of Esther or the Megillah is the basis for the Jewish celebration of Purim...
, Song of Solomon, Lamentations
Book of Lamentations
The Book of Lamentations ) is a poetic book of the Hebrew Bible composed by the Jewish prophet Jeremiah. It mourns the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple in the 6th Century BCE....
, and Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes
The Book of Ecclesiastes, called , is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The English name derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title.The main speaker in the book, identified by the name or title Qoheleth , introduces himself as "son of David, king in Jerusalem." The work consists of personal...
. The song deals with the purposes of these books. According to the album liner notes, Steve Rowe studied at a Bible college a year before the album was recorded and he learned that these books were read at feasts and celebrations of significant Jewish dates. Rowe writes: "When we read 2 Timothy 3:16 we realised that all scriptures are there for a purpose and should all be studied to guide us."
Track listing
All songs written by Mortification- "Nocturnal" - 6:08
- "Terminate Damnation" - 6:17
- "Eternal Lamentation" - 6:27
- "Raise the Chalice" - 4:47
- "Lymphosarcoma" - 6:01
- "Scrolls of the Megilloth" - 4:26
- "Death Requiem" - 5:09
- "Necromanicide" - 4:54
- "Inflamed" - 3:25
- "Ancient Prophecy" - 11:42
Mortification
- Steve RoweSteve RoweSteve Rowe is the founder, bass guitarist, and vocalist of the Australian Christian death metal band Mortification which was considered to be a major pioneer in the genre. Prior to forming Mortification he was in a traditional heavy metal styled Christian band known as LightForce...
- Bass, Vocals - Michael Carlisle - Guitar, Back-up Vocals
- Jayson SherlockJayson SherlockJayson Sherlock was the drummer for the Australian death metal band Mortification, which was considered to be a major pioneer in the genre.Sherlock was the founder of the one-man project Unblack metal band Horde, in which he played every instrument...
- Drums, Back-up Vocals, Lead Guitar on "Ancient Prophecy"