Extracts from various reviews of live shows of M.S.

“I’m not in the least bit surprised that Mors Syphilitica were great in their performance. With hauntingly beautiful vocals by lead singer Lisa, and the dark, ambient cries of Eric’s custom black Gibson guitar, all those familiar with the duo would expect nothing less...”

Arts Weekly

“They floated onstage as from another time: the Edwardian villain with a sinister black goatee and his fair lady in crimson empire gown a flowing auburn tresses. Backed by a turn-of-the-century gentleman d by goth bands but rarely honored- haunting melodies, operatic vocals and lyrics that limn fervid states of mind with a romanticism that Anne Radcliffe would admire. Not for Mors the dance-floor pseudo-darkness of better known bands such as Switchblade Symphony or London After Midnight. Eric and Lisa Hammer, who in another life were the core of the seminal Requiem In White, are the real thing.

The band’s atmospherics, which fall somewhere between doom-metal and Dead Can Dance, are centered around Eric’s tapestried guitar lines and Lisa’s ethereal mezzo-soprano, which she controls with enchanting delicacy (no straining for the high-C or octaves-straddling gymnastics) The couple’s beautiful collaboration is boosted by an almost tribal rhythm section....There were many interludes of utterly transfixing splendor: “Ungrateful Girl” with its stark backbeat, chiming lead and Lisa’s voice at its most astonishingly emotional; Lisa’s quiveringly angelic upper-register on the lush “Distance”; and the baroque heartbreak of “Dreams of the Many”. And this otherworldly chanteuse didn’t need Dying Violet lipstick and Chalk face powder to look expressive- her writhing mane and flashing eyes were enough to lure a wall-hugging crowd out of the shadows.”

Metroland

“Lisa had a striking Pre-Raphaelite look with her long, red wavy hair and white velvet medieval gown...Their oral presence is best described as neo- classical rock with heavy goth-postpunk elements and intensely overwhelming operatic vocals.”

Hypercult Magazine

“...I went out deliberately in search of something that sucked, just so I could be much better than it and share my sense of self-aggrandizement with you....Goths! A club named Vampiricus! Bands with weird names like “Mors Syphilitica”!...I had been expecting stuff along the lines of that fraudulent twit Marilyn Manson. I GOOFED. These bands rocked!...Opening band The Autumns cranked out first-rate aggressive trance-ey power-pop. Headliners Mors Syphilitica delivered a spell-binding set. Their music combined soaring operatic vocals with electric guitar, bass, tribal drums and mandolin.... ....Doggone it- we loved the show in spite of all our planning not to. Imagine if we had gone with an open mind!”

The Grunion Gazette