Mortiis - Keiser Av En Dimensjon Ukjent (1995)

Out of the three early (1993-1995) two long song albums that Mortiis released, ‘Keiser Av En Dimensjon Ukjent’ is undoubtedly my favorite one. Not to take anything away from the excellent debut, ‘Født til å herske’ or his sophomore release, ‘Ånden som gjorde opprør,’ which are both excellent mind you, but I feel it was at this point in Mortiis’ early career that he achieved absolute perfection.

Probably the first thing you’ll notice as you work your way through these two long songs (24 + minutes each) is that Mortiis began to craft some truly beautiful melodies during ever last second of these songs. This was indeed his most melodic and well accomplished release to date, as well his most darkly medieval sounding piece of work. Words are brief on this journey to the past, but Mortiis’ speaks to the listener while the music takes you to places long forgotten. Surely it is a medieval place where dragons ruled the forest, trolls hid under bridges, and men died gloriously with sword in hand while defending their mighty kingdom on the battlefield. Both songs take you to this place, but the title track is indeed the true highlight of this recording. The gorgeous medieval melodies, light chanting, and bombastic percussion are indeed immense. This song has both these dynamic moments, but also several other moments of serene ethereal clarity where one can sense something unexplainable on the horizon. This regal symphonic sound suggests triumph but perhaps these emperors of a dimension unknown have lost their grandiose battle.

For me this was actually the first Mortiis release I heard, just a month or so before picking up the stunning, ‘The Stargate’ album in the autumn of 2000. Much like The Stargate this release has become one of my all-time favorites and definitely one of my most played albums. It was also re-released a few years ago by Projekt Records in a digipak format, thus making this ambient classic widely available again for all kings and conquerors to hear.