Jayson Sherlock

Despite the lack of subsequent commercial success or mainstream critical recognition, "the band, in spite of their extreme sound, are some kind of superstars in the 'White Metal' scene", and have been described as "a legend in the death metal scene." In late 1996, Rowe was diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukemia and took 18 months to recover. Mortification issued their tenth album, Triumph of Mercy in August 1998 and accompanied it with a tour of North America. In 2026, it was announced that there will be a Scrolls of the Megilloth 35th anniversary tour in Latin America, with the band playing 10 dates in February of 2027. The announced line-up consisted of Sherlock on drums, Bowen and Jelinic on guitars, and Luke Renno of Crimson Thorn on bass and vocals. Sherlock then announced that, due to health reasons, he was dropping out of the planned tour.

• Name — Mortification • Origin — Moorabbin, Victoria, Australia • Genre — * Death metal • Christian death metal • thrash metal • groove metal • Christian metal • Years Active — * 1990–2016 • 2026–present • Label — Intense, Nuclear Blast, Rowe • Website — roweproductions.com • Spinoff Of — Lightforce • Current Members — Lincoln Bowen Michael Jelinic Luke Renno • Past Members — Steve Rowe Andrew Esnouf Jayson Sherlock Phil Gibson Keith Bannister Bill Rice Dave Kilgallon Mike Forsberg Dean Conroy Cameron Hall Michael Carlisle Jeff Lewis Damien Percy George Ochoa Adam Zaffarese Johnny Vasquez

In 1987, bass guitarist and vocalist Steve Rowe formed the Australian power metal band LightForce with Murray Adams on guitar, Steve Johnson on vocals and Errol Willenberg on drums. The group played on the local metal scene and signed with United States label, Pure Metal Records to release their debut album, Mystical Thieves in May 1989. They supported US Christian glam metallers Stryper on their 1989 tour of Australia. In 1990, Rowe, was determined to play heavy music with a Christian message, and was joined by drummer Jayson Sherlock and guitarist Cameron Hall under the LightForce name to record the demo Break the Curse. The group had changed musically towards thrash metal with a death metal influence and when Michael Carlisle replaced Hall on guitar, they were renamed Mortification. According to Rowe, the name comes from the King James Bible, "Mortify therefore the deeds of the flesh." Break the Curse was released in 1991 as Mortification's second album. In early 1991, they released their self-titled debut album on the US Christian label Intense Records. The direction of the music had changed once again. A lot of the songs were taken from their demo Break the Curse, but the band tuned their guitars down, and the feel to the songs was a lot more heavy and doomy than on previous material. Also, Rowe proved to be an excellent death metal vocalist, presenting his "Grind Baritone vocals of extreme reality" throughout the album. According to AllMusic, the band "sought to provide a positive alternative to traditional death metal acts such as Carcass, Death and Obituary. On the strength of their self-titled 1990 debut, Mortification quickly gained a reputation in their native Australia for being one of the loudest and fastest bands around." In 1992, the band signed a deal with Nuclear Blast Records in Germany, which had many European death metal groups on their roster. Mortification released their third album, Scrolls of the Megilloth, which had great success and, in the Christian metal scene, is considered a classic as well as a piece of Australian metal history. The line-up had outdone themselves, playing some fast death metal with a few doom metal influences on a couple of tracks. According to AllMusic, the album contains "some of the most frightening vocals ever recorded." Jayson Sherlock had his last concert with the band at the Black Stump Festival '93, and the concert was released both on CD and also VHS under the name Live Planetarium. A big US major magazine cited the Live Planetarium video as the best live album and video they have ever seen and heard. The band released a new album in 1994 called Blood World. They leaned more towards modern groove/thrash with classic metal and hardcore punk influence rather than death metal, and Steve mainly used his shouts rather than growling. Phil and Michael left the band, and Steve stood by himself. The strange combination of extreme styles began setting Mortification apart from the crowd of same sounding bands and widened the band's audience as they became quickly recognized as innovators and not imitators. Blood World received rave reviews in America and Europe. Horror Infernal Magazine gave the album 13 out of 13 points.

In late 1996, Steve Rowe was diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukemia, and after 18 months he was in remission despite a seemingly failed bone marrow transplant. Soon after, Mortification recorded their tenth album, Triumph of Mercy, and released it in August 1998. It was issued by Rowe Productions in the US and Nuclear Blast Germany in Europe. Lyrically, the album focused on the experiences of Rowe and the band during the previous two-years. The style of the album was a mixture of groove and thrash. They followed with a North American tour. 1999 saw the release of Hammer of God, also a mix of thrash and groove. The death metal elements had vanished, but the religious message of the lyrics remained. The band's line-up was Rowe, with Keith Bannister on drums and Lincoln Bowen on guitar. They undertook another European tour to promote Hammer of God. By August that year, the group had sold a total of a quarter of a million albums across Europe and the US. In 2000, Mortification released another live album, recorded at Black Stump Festival in 1999, called 10 Years Live Not Dead, which mainly featured material from their newer albums plus a new song called "Dead Man Walking". Keith Bannister left the band, and a replacement was found in the very young drummer Adam Zaffarese. The new line-up released the album The Silver Cord is Severed in 2000 and the band went on its first world tour. The music continued to be thrash and groove. While many fans thought the album was the weakest effort in the band's career, The Silver Cord is Severed sold well like its processors. This was due to the fact that – like Nuclear Blast founder Markus Staiger stated in a newsletter – had become "some kind of superstars in the Christian metal scene".

In early 2008, the band's nine early records were re-released by Polish Metal Mind Productions. On 6 June, it was announced that Mortification will record a new album in 2009. On 5 August, the band stated that they would record a demo for the new album. On 4 February, Rowe announced that the album titled The Evil Addiction Destroying Machine was partially completed, and it was released early June. Confusing many fans, Steve Rowe has reportedly called the new musical direction "easy-listening thrash". Rowe noted in a message for The Metal Resource about the reception of The Evil Addiction Destroying Machine: "With all new Mort releases there have been mixed response; pretty black and white. Some Really Like It and some really Don't Like It. But I knew with presenting the band in a reinvented way it was an excitingly dangerous move!" In 2016, Rowe spoke in an interview about a re-pressing of Post Momentary Affliction on vinyl. He stated that former drummer Jayson Sherlock redesigned the artwork.

On 8 May 2026, it was announced the band would tour Latin America in 2027 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of their second album, Scrolls of the Megilloth. Frontman Steve Rowe revealed he would not be part of the tour due to complications and slow recovery from a stroke, and would be replaced by Luke Renno of Crimson Thorn. The rest of the lineup will include former members of the band, including Jayson Sherlock, Lincoln Bowen and Michael Jelinic. Sherlock then dropped out before the tour due to health reasons.

Current members • Lincoln Bowen – rhythm and lead guitars, backing vocals (1996–2001, 2011–2016, 2026–present) • Michael Jelinic – lead and rhythm guitars (2002–2011, 2026–present) • Luke Renno – vocals, bass (2026–present) Former members • Steve Rowe – vocals, bass (1990–2016) • Jayson Sherlock – drums, backing vocals (1990–1993, 2026) • Cameron Hall – rhythm guitars (1990) • Michael Carlisle – lead guitars, backing vocals (1991–1994) • Phil Curtis–Gibson – drums (1993–1994) • George Ochoa – rhythm guitars, keyboards (1994–1996) • Jason Campbell – rhythm guitars, vocals (1995) • Dave Kellogg – lead guitars (1995) • Josh Rivero – guitar (1995) • Bill Rice – drums (1995) • Keith Bannister – drums, backing vocals (1996–1999) • Adam Zaffarese – drums (2000–2003, 2008–2011) • Jeff Lewis – rhythm guitars (2002) • Mike Forsberg – drums (2003–2005) • Damien Percy – drums (2005–2008) (died 2018) • Dave Kilgallon – drums (2008) • Troy Dixon – guitars (2011) • Andrew Esnouf – drums (2011–2016) Touring musicians • Johnny Vasquez – drums (1993) Session musicians • Derek Sean – lead guitars (1991) Timeline

• Artist — Mortification • Studio — 14 • Live — 6 • Compilation — 3 • Ep — 3 • 1option Name — Demo albums • 1option — 1 • 2option Name — Box sets • 2option — 1 Studio albums • Mortification (1991) • Scrolls of the Megilloth (1992) • Post Momentary Affliction (1993) • Blood World (1994) • Primitive Rhythm Machine (1995) • EnVision EvAngelene (1996) • Triumph of Mercy (1998) • Hammer of God (1999) • The Silver Cord is Severed (2001) • Relentless (2002) • Brain Cleaner (2004) • Erasing the Goblin (2006) • The Evil Addiction Destroying Machine (2009) • Realm of the Skelataur (2015) Demo albums • Break the Curse (1990) EPs • Scribe of the Pentateuch (2012) • Ancient Prophecy/Overseer (2017) Live albums • Live Planetarium (1993) • Live Without Fear (1996) • Noah Sat Down and Listened to the Mortification Live E.P. While Having a Coffee (1996, EP) • 10 Years Live Not Dead (2000) • Live Humanitarian (2006) • Live 1996 (2020) Compilation albums • The Best of Five Years (1996) • Ten Years 1990–2000 Power, Pain, and Passion (2002) • Twenty Years in the Underground (2010) Box sets • The Intense Years: 30th Anniversary Box Set (2020) Bootlegs • Australia Live (1992) • Distarnished Priest (1995) • Live Planetarium 2 (1995) • Triumph of Mercy (1998) • Conquer The Stump (2003) • Total Thrashing Death (2004) Other appearances • Death Is Just The Beginning Vol. 2 (1993) Scrolls of the Megilloth – Mortification (previously unreleased) • Nuclear Blast Presents! Summer Blast 1994 • Hot Metal V: Screaming Truth • Track 7- An interview with Mortification • Track 8- Distarnish Priest • Godspeed: Australian Metal Compilation- Time Crusaders (Studio Demo Version) • Tourniquet/Mortification collector's edition CD single • Track 9- Your Life • Track 10- J.G.S.H. • Track 11- Love Song • Track 12- A Short Interview with Steve Rowe on the History of Mortification Videos • Metal Missionaries (1991, video) • Grind Planets (1993, video, 55 minutes) • The History of Mortification (1994, video) • Live Planetarium (1994, video, 60 minutes) • Envision (1996, video, 60 minutes) • Conquer The World (2002, DVD, 95 minutes) • Grind Planets Reissue (2005, DVD, 89 minutes) • Live Planetarium (2006, DVD, 90 minutes)