Looking back at Mortiis’ discography, you see a restless artist always prepared to step into something new. In 1992, he left Emperor, stepping outside of the black metal realm and into the dark, high-fantasy world of dungeon synth. Since then, Mortiis’ works have been separated into different eras, but these tend to bleed into one another. The Stargate stands between the dungeon synth beginnings and the industrial machinations that would define his later works. Twenty-seven years later, Ghosts of Europa makes a similar statement, clinging to the past with one hand while pointing toward something new and unexplored.
Ghosts of Europa was initially conceived as a collaboration with Stephan Groth (Apoptygma Berzerk) to explore the Berlin school take on kosmische musik. Mortiis and Groth found inspiration in the ethereal melancholy of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze, merging it with a more futuristic electronic backbone. The project itself fell apart, but Mortiis carried much of that interest over into his new work, which is defined by a dichotomy between industrial dystopia and ethereal presence.
Here, the biggest shift from Mortiis‘ previous industrial output is toward a more restrained, soothing approach. The buzzsaw guitars that defined The Grudge, and even more, The Unraveling Mind, do not take up the same space. They are instead absorbed into the background, allowing a sense of mood and serenity to wash over. This minimal setting becomes the perfect ground for Mortiis to recall the darker aspects of his past artistic endeavours.
The neoclassical dimension emerges on the title track, with obscured operatic vocals in the distance. It is a bitter moment, one that recalls Mortiis’ time around the Cold Meat Industry scene. Even more relevant to that time are the ambient inclinations of Ghosts of Europa. “Return to the Old Fields” features this minimalistic application, with subtle electronics and ethereal vocals creating a hallucinatory space, before they take on a harrowing quality. It reaches toward the dark ambient space, its tribal percussion turning the earlier dreamscape into a mystical experience.
Yet Ghosts of Europa is not confined to the ambient explorations or Mortiis’s industrial fascinations. The restrained, almost soothing approach of the industrial component lives alongside a very direct and catchy presentation. Mortiis draws from the pop tradition, channelling it into a synthpop and electropop mould, not unlike Ulver circa The Assassination of Julius Caesar and Flowers of Evil. “The Faith that Fades Away” carries a deep sensitivity, its moving chorus perfectly matching the slow, determined rhythmic progression. Similarly, Mortiis awakens a 1980s-infused essence with a near-danceable component. “Violent Silence” and “Tundra Heart of Hell” embody this motif, their groove adding a fluid sense of movement, a near Dionysian call to dance against the bleak backdrop.
Ghosts of Europa, much like The Stargate, finds Mortiis at an in-between stage. Much like how the industrial component in The Stargate pushed against the dungeon-synth grandeur, the synthpop manifestation now pushes back against the industrial past. Most importantly, Mortiis is resurrecting one element that defined his most glorious dungeon synth days.
It is this feeling of triumphant melancholia, a collision between the grand and the defeated. In the past, this was the result of a hungry, expansive artistic intent, obsessed with sound design and sonic experimentation. Now, it is represented by a calmer force, one that feels content in its own skin. Even though I prefer to lose myself in the crypts of the wizard, Ghosts of Europa has so many hooks that it is difficult not to hit repeat every time it ends.