MORDBEAR - MORDBEAR (EP Review)

Release Date: June 06th 2025. Record Label: Dipterid Records. Formats: DD

MORDBEAR - Tracklisting

1. Like the Dead

2. A Mirror with a Sea of Flames

3. The Alchemist

Members

Tyler Balthaser (guitars, vocals)

Nico Martinez (bass)

Erik Larson (drums)

Review

MORDBEAR is a Doom/Stoner Metal band from Portland, Oregon and their debut self-titled EP is easily comparable to the likes of Black Sabbath, SLEEP, OM and Acrimony. There’s a subdued atmosphere that first appears within the opening track Like The Dead with MORDBEAR supremely becoming confident with each passing moment. The sound is quite melodic and brings a classic 1990’s Stoner Rock/Metal sound into the slight Proto-Doom attitude that also appears within MORDBEAR’s delivery. 

The EP allows MORDBEAR to showcase their fine style of Hard Rock delivery with some classic guitar shredding set against a backdrop of gloomy instrumental passages. The vocals from Tyler Balthaser are quite stylish and even understated with Tyler putting in a commanding performance within the more DOOM obsessive moments. 

MORDBEAR plays around with Psychedelic sounds and SONIC passages for the second track A MIrror With A Sea Of Flames. The sludgy guitars make a sneaky appearance here and there with a slowly played delivery that becomes more Proto-Doom riff-focused once again. This song is never in a rush to reach its natural conclusion with MORDBEAR playing multiple different styles of Psych Stoner Metal with a creepy OCCULT vibe appearing within Tyler’s vocals and the fantastic rhythm section of Nico Martinez (Bass) and Erik Larson (Drums) leading the way. There sudden flashes of early-era SLEEP starting to dominate or decimate the musical landscape which results into some of the best grooves of the EP.

The final song The Alchemist is the standout track lasting over seven minutes where MORDBEAR fully settle within their DOOM & GLOOM surroundings. The foreboding sense of trippy Psychedelic grooves and small amounts of distorted modern day Stoner Metal sees the band come kicking and screaming into the modern underground scene. The music is played at a superb slow-to-mid pace once again which allows the music to grow naturally with epic slabs of SLUDGE ROCK to appear. 

MORDBEAR’s debut EP is an excellent release which allows the band to showcase their own style of Psych Stoner Metal that should see the band start building a loyal following within the underground scene before the full length debut album appears. 

Check this out when you can as it’s an absolute BEAST of a record.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Discipline PR for the promo.

The debut EP arrives June 6 via Dipterid Records. Pre-order from now on here.

Links

BandCamp | Instagram

Portland's Stoner Metallers MORDBEAR Delivers Crushing Debut EP Due To Release June 06th 2025

MORDBEAR EP Details

Release: June 6, 2025
Genres: Stoner Rock, Doom Metal, Acid Metal.
Format: EP,DR.
FFO: Sleep, Om, & Acrimony
Label: Dipterid Records

Tracklist:

1. Like The Dead
2. A Mirror with a Sea of Flames
3. The Alchemist

The Lowdown

Emerging from the rainy gloom of the Pacific Northwest, Mordbear arrives with a debut EP that fuses gritty stoner-metal grooves with surreal storytelling and a heavy dose of acid-fried mysticism. Built on a foundation of ‘70s proto-metal and acid rock, but firmly grounded in the present, Mordbear is the sound of three seasoned musicians channeling personal mythologies, literary references, and esoteric philosophies into towering riffs and wild sonic turns.

Mordbear is the collective force of Tyler Balthaser (guitars, vocals), Nico Martinez (bass), and Erik Larson (drums), each bringing years of experience from vastly different musical backgrounds—from hardcore and jazz to psych and doom. Their chemistry lies in the process: “I write demos for the songs, bring them to the guys, and we work them out until we have something that we are excited about... with the Mordbear footprint on them,” Tyler shares.

The self-titled EP showcases three tracks that function less like a conceptual arc and more like a collection of strange transmissions from the minds of its creators. As frontman and songwriter Tyler Balthaser puts it: “There isn't too much of a specific thread between the songs — two I've worked on in one form or another for a few years now, and one, ‘The Alchemist,’ is pretty new for all of us.”

But what links them is an uncanny ability to turn off-kilter ideas into heavy, head-nodding anthems. The opener, 'Like the Dead,’ was inspired by a surreal conversation with a hippie veterinarian, recounting a theory about global warming, rabid bats, and a Southern California zombie outbreak: “The theory itself and especially the source and setting stuck it in my head, until it was time to write lyrics for what was the first song for this project.”

‘A Mirror with a Sea of Flames’ pulls its title from Tom Wolfe’s ‘The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,’ conjuring visions of DMT-fueled trips and side-mirror firestorms on a school bus full of proto-hippies winding through the hills of New York in the mid ’60s. Commenting on the inspiration spark, Tyler says: “The text and imagery felt like they were prime for a stoner metal song to me, and shoe-horning dimethyltryptamine into a song’s lyrics alone was worth it.”

Photo credits: Peter Subaiya.

Meanwhile, ‘The Alchemist’ explores an eerie modern parable about self-transformation and the cost of ambition in a capitalist world: “Early interests in esoteric schools of thought taught me about alchemy—really just an early form of chemistry, but also an allegory for refining yourself into a better version through introspection and intention,” Tyler shares, while taking a more literal approach, reflecting on our hypercapitalist society: “It can feel like you need to trade your life for a small amount of gold just to get by, and people seem to be willing to trade more and more for a smaller piece.”

At its core, Mordbear is a debut that doesn’t just introduce a band—it builds a world. One that is chaotic, cinematic, and just strange enough to feel true. 

The debut EP arrives June 6 via Dipterid Records. Pre-order from now on here.

Links

BandCamp | Instagram

Thanks to Discipline PR for all of the details.