“Death is inseparable from the notes!” Mortuus returns with their second full length album, Grape of the Vine, reeking of the same despair and hopelessness as the first album, De contemplanda Morte: De Reverencie laboribus ac Adorationis (2007), and that of their self-titled 7” (2005), both released by The Ajna Offensive. The band’s previous work was exalted for a feeling of being ‘lightless’ and “dreary as Hell’, and characterized by the ubiquitous references to ‘atmosphere’ — being a bleak, hopeless, mid-paced exaltation of death. It might sound trite given the dearth of bands touting their authenticity and grimness within the realms of death and black metal, but a simple reading of the lyrical content here belies the fact that there is an egregore that penetrates deeper than that of skin and mortality. This new material finds the band exploring the dark tunnels and empty shells that lurk beyond the shallow grave previously mined on the first full-length, De contemplanda Morte: De Reverencie laboribus ac Adorationis. And, as with the previous material, the sound is clear, organic and chillingly eerie. Grape of the Vine offers a panorama of death’s landscape slightly more dimensional than that of the first album — not so much that people will question the fleshing out of the implements deployed, but enough that people will not accuse the band of repeating the past. Mortuus’ Grape of the Vine is set for international release on September 16th, 2014, via The Ajna Offensive. Follow the band on their Facebook page.