Mortal Treason didn’t escape. After four years, it was inevitable. Change overtook the band. Some good – signing with Flicker Records and releasing its debut, then watching its songs hit Top 25 on the CMJ Loud Chart and Top 20 on FMQB. Some harder to swallow – adding four new members in a year and writing for a second record between tour stops.
Fortunately a tight touring schedule and line-up change didn’t detain Mortal Treason. Seems added pressure produced a greater diamond – the band’s sophomore release for Flicker, Sun Rise Over a Sea of Blood. Says Kimbrough, “This record has a darker tone about it than the first one. It has more feeling to it, too.”
Mortal Treason is Kimbrough, his wife Elizabeth on keyboards, guitarists Adam Wright and Josh Jarrett, bassist T.J. Alford and drummer Steve Robinson. Produced by Nathan Dantzler and Sam Shifley, Sun Rise Over a Sea of Blood lays bare aggressive guitars, steady beats and shadowy melodic keys. It’s a kind of dark, hopeful poetry set to hard music, and it delivers a faith-packed punch.
As indicated by the album’s title, Sun Rise Over a Sea of Blood covers serious and weighty issues. The title track, according to Kimbrough, “talks about the end times and how the world is going crazy.” “Most of the lyrics are about spiritual things that we go through everyday,” he says. These songs provide an outlet through which Mortal Treason addresses tough topics the band encounters on a daily basis. One melody builds off another, telling a story, reaching a conclusion, and the ending isn’t always happy.
Opening the record is “Worst Case Scenario,” a song about friends falling into drugs and other worldly evils, while “Abaddon” speaks specifically to child abuse, offering a word of hope. Other songs like “The Falling” and “Dig Your Own Grave” explore the repercussions of living life for oneself.
Mortal Treason now prepares to take its new material and message to hardcore young music fans. “Since day one, my goal has been to share the love that can be found in the person of Jesus Christ,” says Kimbrough. “This passion has only grown greater over the years. And we’ve adopted the same purpose for our band – to share that love with kids that either don’t get to hear it or have been pushed away from church. We want to reach out and get into those kids’ lives.”
It’s the kids that Mortal Treason meets while traveling that fuels its fight and passion. “One thing that motivates me is seeing a lot of kids that are doubting and losing faith. I want to help them be strong, to let them know that it’s worth it, and it’ll pay off. Face to face I definitely encourage those kids to stand strong and not back down no matter what,” he says.
Sun Rise Over a Sea of Blood provides much of the needed incentive to inspire such kids toward change. “A lot of those kids go by ‘no gods, no masters,’” says Wright. “They’re into the idea that there’s nothing for them except the music scene. They’re looking for something to hold onto; they’re looking for something steady. I think we can bring that to them.”
