Mortiis - Double Whammy, 13 November 2026: Review

Friday the 13th seemed a fitting date for Norway’s "Godfather" of dungeon synth, Håvard Ellefsen, better known by his iconic stage persona, Mortiis, to materialise at Double Whammy. Since emerging from Norway's underground scene in 1991, Mortiis has carved a fiercely independent path. After serving as the original bassist for black-metal pioneers Emperor, he traded four strings for synthesisers, launching a solo project that helped pioneer an entire genre.

Though Mortiis dropped their latest studio album, Ghosts Of Europa, back in June, the first full-length release in six years, this Aotearoa tour marks a milestone retrospective. Performing with a full live band for the first time in New Zealand, Mortiis rewound the clock 25 years to celebrate seminal 2001 darkwave-industrial crossover, The Smell Of Rain, alongside other cuts from his Dystopian Despair catalogue.

Vox Umbrae

Auckland-based Vox Umbrae opened the night with a powerful presence that seemed to

mesmerise the crowd right from the first song, Terrible Horrorscopes. The crowd clapped between songs but then fell into a sombre silence, entranced by the performance. “Alright, shall we do some more?’ growled the singer, the audience’s response satisfying enough to warrant his reply: “That’s a good answer” “Lucky, just remember we are all insignificant!” I felt lucky, it could have gone sideways at that point, and I wouldn't have wanted to see him mad! The band broke into their second-to-last song, Insignificance, before finishing the set with a shrill growl.

Windswept

Windswept, a five-piece, female-fronted black metal band formed in Wellington in 2024, takes its name from the capital city's infamous southerly winds. Although relatively new, they released their debut full-length album, Howling In Baptismal Filth, in May this year to critical acclaim.

That praise is unsurprising given the band's all-star cast, including members of Bulletbelt, Imperial Slave, and Dole Bludger. The band take the stage back to the audience; atmospheric sounds and crickets chirp over the chatter of the crowd. A bell tolls symbolically, and Rachel Collins emerges above the crowd on vocals. She cuts a disturbing sight, with blood oozing down her neck, her movements slow and then erratic. Her vocals are equally powerful, not overpowered by the band's ferocity.

Fourth song in, Rotten Realms Of Desolation, provides a brief rest bite of the searing intensity and gives Steve Francis, on drums, a moment to hold the drumsticks up in the shape of an upside-down cross, framed perfectly by the band's backdrop, their winged logo extending out behind his head.

Mortiis

Mortiis’s stage persona has often been compared to a troll, a creature from Nordic folklore, but, according to the artist, that was never the intention. As he takes the stage, his facial prosthetics are hidden beneath a head shroud.

Sadly, the performance was plagued by technical hitches the first being no mic stand on stage. We must wait for the big reveal as he leaves the stage, and a mic stand is set up. Returning to the stage, they open with Ghosts Of Europa, a love letter to the electronic sounds of the 1980s, which is performed with his head still covered. The backdrop features two banners on either side with black-and-grey pictures of Mortiis in foreboding landscapes.

Nero Bellum on Guitar roams the stage, his beautiful, fragile silhouette and matte black guitar framed against them. He wears full goth makeup: a white face and black panda eyes, with black hair swaying to the music. Second song in Marshland, and the head cover is removed; the entity that is Mortiis is now in full view. His style is more in keeping with black metal, some kind of crustcore troll? Battle jacket and patched trousers. At this point, the projector behind the drummer comes on and, just like the song they are playing, You Put A Hex On Me, the tech problems continue. A large blue box is in the middle of the scene, and repeated attempts to remove it fail. As the synth sounds of Flux/Mental Maelstrom fill the space, the problems fade, and the band picks up momentum.

At this point I took my reviewer hat off and joined the dance, teleported back to the goth room at the Slimelight in London. Three steps forward, three steps back, see those pagan goes go go!

Finishing strong with Smell The Witch, they declined an encore, hardly surprising; it wasn’t their night, and I guess they wanted to quit while ahead.