Midnightmares – Mortalis

This is my fits encounter with a Mexican/Belgian symphonic gothic/metal band Midnightmares. The band is comprised of; Mariel Gimeno (vocals & additional keyboards), Gio Smet (guitars & vocals), Jan Bruggeman (keyboards), Bart Jacquet (bass) and Tom Skidmore (drums).

Midnightmares is formed in the winter of 2023 by the aforementioned Gio Smet (Belgian label boss, studio owner, booker and musician with various metal bands) & Mariel Gimeno. Mortalis is the moniker of their sophomore 10-tracker record, a follow-up to their 2024 debut, Shadow People.

Tracklist for Mortalis:

01. Consors Diaboli
02. Hellcoaster
03. Insanity Express
04. Mortalize
05. Blasphemia
06. I Wonder Why
07. The Executioner
08. Ziggurat
09. Soul To Flesh
10. Totus Ordeo

I’m not going to go into details of every track, but I will mentioned some of my favourite songs from the Mortalis. One of them is the track called, “Insanity Express”. This song is very rhythmic and characterized by the interplay of crystal-clear growls and evil growls. Another of the key tracks from the album is a macabre single song “Mortalize” (bellow you can watch the official video of this epic duet) for which they collaborated with Ralf Scheepers, singer of Primal Fear. Mr. Scheepers delivers a beautiful and emotional duet with Gimeno. His emotionally charged vocals, paired with Gimeno’s opera-style singing, sounds like a furious passion play between two. Their fantastic vocal performances are supported by powerful riffs and drums, yet without sacrificing melody. The track ends with some mysterious and grunting whispers, again perfectly composed, with a strong structure of the song, and where every detail fits perfectly in. Finally, last stand-out track for me is the one called “Ziggurat”, where the drums take center stage, joined by hard riffs and epic keyboards. In this song the growls of Gio Smet once again perfectly underlies Mariel Gimeno’s soprano.

Overall, the album features ambitious and conceptually cohesive nature, filled in with intricate arrangements, and poetic and mythological depth in the lyrics. Production is high-quality, featuring some intricate arrangements, where Gio Smet once again succeeds in showcasing the singer’s talent. Thus, Midnightmares have managed to maintain the high standards of their debut album. I know that I very much enjoyed their unique blend of dark, gothic and symphonic metal that Mortalis offers.

With usual characteristic and typical high-quality production, and the central feature – a standout and outstanding performance of soprano Mariel Gimeno, Mortalis is something I can highly recommend to all fans of dark, gothic and symphonic metal.

To promote the album, the band announced the ‘Mortalis Tour’, with shows in the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. See if they’re playing somewhere near you, and meanwhile check their bandcamp for further details on Mortalis.