In 1993, a group named Mortal released their sophomore project, Fathom. At the time, there was a term used with Christian audiences which went something like "If you like (enter secular band name here), then you'll like (enter Christian band name here)". These guys were compared to Nine Inch Nails. I felt they transcended anything NIN had done with this album.It's difficult to pick one song from this project, because I could pop in the CD and listen to the whole thing, including the cool and hilarious bonus track. You could tell they poured everything they had into this album, even in the cryptic messages written into the cover art. They did not want to be compared with a secular band (comparisons were drawn to Skinny Puppy because of 1 song on their first album).
One song off the album that hits you in the gut is Rift, which deals with sexual abuse. How do you explain to a victim that they are loved by God? How does a person recover after such a life-altering experience? The song had a haunting feeling to it, and was hard and beautiful all at once:
You say you'll lift me up
you say you'll cover me
you say you'll fill my cup
before it empties
you say you're never far
you say not far from me
you say that where you are i'll
always be
and i believe you
you say that when you love
you love with all your might
you say you trust by faith and
not by sight
and i believe...you
i believe you, i believed you
you said you'd lift me up
you said you'd cover me
you said you'd nurse my cuts
you stare and watch me bleed
your eyes have seen The Glory
but your body's on hold
your lips have kissed The
Story
but your story's leaving me
cold
sometimes our lives depend
on that which we place faith in
and sometimes faith relies
in Whom we are depending
sometimes our broken hearts
are healed the moment we
Believe Again
I always felt that Mortal was one of those groups that, had they not been on a Christian label, would have drawn the attention of the industrial and hard music world at the time.
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