Morta Skuld recently brought their classic Death Metal origins to a new production, with the release of their 7th album, Creation Undone, via Peaceville Records. Frontman Dave Gregor and Drummer Eric House gave some insight into the making of the album, connection with the label, and Milwaukee Metal Fest:

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Congrats on the awesome Death Metal work that is Creation Undone! “We Rise We Fall” is a perfect single to start the album with, it gives a strong intro to Morta Skuld for those who haven’t heard you before, and a nice treat for the long-time fans to have a new album. How did you begin the process of following up the 2020’s full-length Suffer For Nothing?

Dave Gregor: I appreciate the kind words, and basically it just starts with the itch to write. We also like to remain current with our music and try to release something every 3 years or so, to remain not only fresh but to give fans new material when we can.

Dave, aside from some session work with Lycanthropy, Morta Skuld has been the main band you’re known for since you founded it. During the hiatus before reuniting the band, were you still working/performing in the music world at all?

When the band broke up in 1998, I tried for a couple of years to find replacements but was finding that it was just too difficult at that point and basically got impatient. I then decided to start another original band from scratch but something that was a little different, a little bit more radio friendly, which had hints of Fear Factory and other bands of that genre. The goal with that band was to try to get to a different level and to be a little bit more mainstream and basically after 6 years that band ran its course.

You kept a connection with Peaceville Records, though it was under their sub-label Deaf Records when you were working with them originally. What was it that brought you back to this label?

When we first signed to Deaf Records, we released Dying Remains, and then later on when Deaf Records went out of business so to speak, that is, when we got picked up by the actual Peaceville label. I have always remained in contact with Peaceville since we started on that label and I just felt that since we already had three prior releases on Peaceville Records it would just be a great homecoming for us, not to mention I always have felt the label has treated us really well and had some iconic releases as well.

“Unforeseen Obstacles” feels like one of the more “old-school” sounding tracks to me, with that perfect classic Death/Thrash tradition infused into it. Any background to share on this song?

“Unforeseen Obstacles” was just one of those songs that just came together really quickly and I don’t think we really had any premeditated idea for it to sound that way. I think it was just something that was a natural progression between the four of us and just came out naturally.

“The End of Reason” either feels like two different time signatures in sync, or some deceiving syncopation – can you talk about what’s happening here songwriting-wise?

Eric House: It’s a syncopated/polyrhythmic feel that puts a feel of 4 against 3, or the other way around. I didn’t know what the exact term for it is, but it’s something that I like to incorporate with my drum beats when I can.

Morta Skuld performed at Milwaukee Metal Fest last year, but that wasn’t the first time, as you were also part of the lineup in 1998. How does it feel to have this major metal festival back again, and so close to home?

Dave Gregor: Having the Milwaukee Metal Fest back was such a great thing to happen for not only us but for our city, it was iconic for so many years and we were pretty much a staple band of the Milwaukee Metal Fest for many many years in a row. It was definitely very enjoyable to play, but not only that, was very very cool to reconnect with a lot of the bands that we haven’t seen in so many years, or haven’t had the chance to play with in so many years. It was definitely our honor and pleasure to have played this last year. We look forward to playing the Milwaukee Metal Fest again in the years to come.

“Perfect Prey” stood out to me, especially because of how prominently the bass comes through. You played this one at Milwaukee Metal Fest, and also have an upcoming music video for it. What can you tell us about the making of the video?

“Perfect Prey” was one of those songs that we really wanted to showcase since we felt it had a lot of the basic elements of a good Death Metal song. We have been looking around for quite a while to figure out who we were going to work with on this video and Jason Meudt had done some really cool videos in the past that we really liked, so we teamed up with him and basically went to a friend of his’ farm and basically filmed it in one of the barns on that farm.

Chris Djuricic and Dave Otero both worked on the production for this album. How did you end up connecting with them?

We have worked with Chris many times before, especially on the last record Suffer For Nothing, his input not only recording but getting a good song recorded in the process that it takes has always been something we enjoyed and not to mention it’s different every time we go in the studio. David Otero was somebody that we were looking at to master our last effort Suffer For Nothing, but unfortunately the timing just didn’t work out, so this time around we teamed up with him as we really loved a lot of his mastering works on his other efforts with other bands and we really wanted the sonic sound, and just the heaviness, but with the clear production that he gets with his mastering.

What’s on the horizon for Morta Skuld?

As far as plans for us this year, we’re going out with our friends at Skeletal Remains for a short run on the west coast, and then we are going to South America to share another run with Malevolent Creation.

Any message to share for the longtime Morta Skuld fans?

We just really appreciate our fans and we thank them for all their support. We definitely are hoping that they like our new record Creation Undone as much as we do.

And any message for the brand-new ones just finding you now?

For the new fans, please go check out our Facebook page or Instagram page, check us out on Spotify, go and follow us and that way they can keep current with what we are doing and hopefully come out and see us on one of our tours.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions! Creation Undone is incredibly heavy, feels old-school and new-school at the same time, and has some very interesting things happening musically. Great work and best of luck to you!

I thank you for your time and I thank you for your interview. I appreciate all the support and appreciate your time and effort. Cheers.

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Listen to Creation Undone via Bandcamp here and follow Morta Skuld via Facebook and Instagram.