Brutal 90s death metal band Mortician have been blowing up on TikTok

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By ( Metal Hammer ) published

Thousands of TikTok users have been sharing videos of the intro to Rabid by 90s death metal brutes Mortician

Mortician TikTok
(Image credit: TikTok/DieForShiloh/Press/Relapse)

TikTok has proven to be an effective - if slightly surprising - ally to heavy metal over the past 18 months, offering bands old and new fresh opportunities to reach a whole new audience and gain mainstream attention that has in turn resulted in thousands of new fans championing their cause. 

But while the smash success of Ghost's Mary On A Cross or Sleep Token being crowned metal's sexiest new band and breaking 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify thanks to the platform can be explained as "popular band gets more popular as they reach new audiences", we suspect nobody could have predicted that TikTok could supercharge the careers of some 90s death metal underground darlings. 

But that's exactly what's happened to Mortician, the Yonkers, New York band's 1999 song Rabid soundtracking over 7000 videos as TikTok users shared the song's B-movie horror sample intro and gurn-inducing riff to great effect.

Given fresh life as a meme, videos range from a clip of the song playing over scenes of movies - American Pyscho, The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent -  to make-up showcases, fitness videos and even a stomach turning cooking vid. 

With many videos passing the 100,000 view mark, it's unsurprising that Rabid has also been propelled to the top of Mortician's Spotify listening stats. Currently the song stands at just shy of 4 million plays at the time of writing. That said, both the title-track and  from their 1999 record Chainsaw Dismemberment have also passed the 1 million plays mark, showing that fans aren't just gravitating to one stand-out. 

Rabid comes from the band's second album Chainsaw Dismemberment, released in June 1999 with many tracks featuring samples from horror classics (When A Stranger Calls, Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer, The Crazies) and B-movie splatter-fests (Silent Night, Bloody Night, Bloodeaters, Zombi 2) alike. Rabid itself features a clip from 1971 exploitation horror I Drink Your Blood. 

Although Mortician haven't released a new record in almost 20 years, the band still remain active in 2023, playing sporadic shows in the US. 

Check out the Rabid TikTok clips below, or for a more comprehensive list check out the tag on Tiktok.

Rich Hobson
Rich Hobson

Staff writer for Metal Hammer, Rich has never met a feature he didn't fancy, which is just as well when it comes to covering everything rock, punk and metal for both print and online, be it legendary events like Rock In Rio or Clash Of The Titans or seeking out exciting new bands like Nine Treasures, Jinjer and Sleep Token.