Review: Voluntary Mortification – Mortem Cultus

By Seth Metoyer, MetalCrawlspace.com -

Voluntary Mortification's Mortem Cultus is a five-song deathcore barrage that fuses bone-crushing breakdowns with boldly Christ-centered intent. Where many bands gesture at darkness, VM dives straight into it, dragging the spotlight toward hope.

The record wastes no time. “Death Cult” detonates on impact with blast beats, seismic chugs, and that whiplash half-time lurch deathcore lives on. Conner Luttig’s vocals are a furnace roar, but there’s purpose in the fire; even at its ugliest, he’s channeling conviction, not despair. “Hemophagia” feels like concrete collapsing; tight palm-mutes, staccato kicks, and a hook that doesn’t need melody to hit. Tracks like “Plagues” and “Harvester” push deeper into the destructive atmosphere, with riffs that march forward like judgment itself.

Lyrically, the EP keeps its Bible open to the hard pages—persecution of believers, prophecy, and the meaning of communion. It could easily sound heavy-handed, but VM pulls off something rare: conviction without cliché. They don’t sermonize between riffs; they witness inside them. It’s ministry forged in distortion, meeting listeners where they actually are.

One of the standout moments comes with their reimagined cover of Job for a Cowboy’s “Entombment of a Machine,” transformed into a meditation on death and resurrection. It’s bold, and it works; bridging the old-school deathcore crowd with a modern message of redemption.

Voluntary Mortification aren’t playing it safe inside the Christian bubble. They’re hitting festivals and sharing stages with heavyweights such as Carnifex, proving that faith doesn’t mean isolation. The lineup spans Catholic, Protestant, and even agnostic members, yet their unified spiritual mission remains front and center.

Mortem Cultus is brutal, purposeful, and burning with belief. It’s a reminder that faith can roar every bit as loud as fury, and that redemption sometimes sounds like a breakdown.