Morta Skuld

Morta Skuld, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin outfit, landed a contract early on with Peaceville, the prominent British independent metal label, yet the absence of comparable domestic interest kept the band entrenched in the underground American death metal circuit. Formed in 1989, the group issued a pair of demos—Gory Departure in 1990 and Prolong the Agony in 1991—before teaming with Rhode Island’s Vital Remains on a 1993 split single that secured Peaceville deals for both acts. Morta Skuld moved first, dropping the Dying Remains debut that year and hitting the road with Death, Obituary, and Deicide, then followed the same pattern with As Humanity Fades in 1994 and For All Eternity in 1995, each supported by further touring alongside Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, and similar peers.

Even so, these strong examples of American death metal never reached U.S. stores except as imports, leading the quartet of Dave Gregor (vocals/guitar), Jason O’Connell (guitar), Jason Hellman (bass), and Kent Truckenbrod (drums) to sign with Pavement Records for the 1998 album Surface. At that point internal strains surfaced: O’Connell exited first, followed soon after by Truckenbrod. After adding former Acrophet drummer Jason Mooney, the remaining trio adopted the MS2 name and shifted into nu metal, later adopting a groove-metal approach as 9mm Solution and issuing one EP plus two albums in the late 2000s.

Peaceville collected the band’s early output on the 2005 compilation Re-Surface: The Best of Morta Skuld. In 2017 Morta Skuld reformed around founding member David Gregor (guitars/vocals) plus guitarist Scott Willecke, drummer Eric House, and bassist Al Lewandowski, delivering Wounds Deeper Than Time—their first new recordings since 1997.