MORTAL SIN's MAT MAURER Doesn't Rule Out New Music: 'It's Not Out Of The Question'

Australian thrash metal pioneers MORTAL SIN recently announced that they will return to the stage in 2026, nearly 15 years since their last tour on the 2011 "Thrashfest Classics" European run. MORTAL SIN's 2026 lineup will see original members Mat Maurer (vocals) and Andy Eftichiou (bass) joined by Nathan Shea (guitar) and Ryan Huthnance (guitar),along with the band's latest addition, Sydney drummer George Delinicolis of LIVEWIRE and BASTARDIZER.

2026 signifies MORTAL SIN's place in thrash metal history celebrating 40 years of "Mayhemic Destruction", 20 years of "An Absence Of Faith" and 15 years since the release of "Psychology Of Death".

MORTAL SIN fans can expect to hear classics spanning the band's full catalog on dates throughout 2026, with the first announcement seeing MORTAL SIN appearing at Germany's Keep it True festival in April.

Asked in a new interview with the Heavy Metal Mayhem radio show if the Keep it True festival appearance was the main motivation in bringing MORTAL SIN back, Maurer said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No, that came afterwards. Although Oliver from Keep It True has been trying to get us for the last — I don't know how many years. Every year I seem to get an e-mail from him saying, 'Oh, will you do this?' And I go, 'I can't, I can't, I can't, can't.' Because I don't know if you know, my wife was quite ill and passed away in January this year. That sort of took up a big part of my life and that was the priority. When she passed away in January, I kind of needed a bit of purpose and I saw Andy and Nathan. We all sort of went to the same concert together, and I said, 'Look, I know that it's been me that's held us up for all these years, and I appreciate that you waited and everything, but if you guys wanna do something, next year's our 40th anniversary, if you're up for it, I'm up for it.' And they all just said — straight away they said yes. And then so we sat with those three, with us three for probably two months while we were sort of getting into the sort of sense that we're gonna do it. And then we sat there and thought, 'Well, who are we gonna get on guitars?' And Andy suggested getting Paul [Carwana], the original guitarist, but I was a little more inclined to use Ryan from the last lineup that we did with in 2011, just to keep some kind of — I can't say continuity, 'cause it's been — what? — 14 years since then. But I liked Ryan. Ryan was a pretty superior player. And, yeah, because we were losing Luke [Cook], our drummer, I didn't wanna have too much change. Changing one member's okay, changing two members kind of gets — everyone sort of [thinks], 'Yeah, you bloody change your members all the time,' that sort of vibe. So we've got four of the members who were basically together — I don't know what — since 2005 till 2011. And then George has joined us this year. Because he is a drummer, he plays in about 37 bands. But the two notable ones are LIVEWIRE and BASTARDIZER. You may have heard of BASTARDIZER. You may have heard of LIVEWIRE."

Regarding how far he and his MORTAL SIN bandmates are planning to take the reunion and if there is a chance of new music being released in the not-too-distant future, Mat said: "Well, look — one step at a time. When we said we'd start this, we said, 'Let's just do something for the 40th anniversary.' We feel we deserve to do that. And then let's just see. If the reaction is good, if we get shows out of it and all that sort of thing, if there's enough there to push us into doing more, then we'll do more. But we'll get past the first hurdle first, and then we'll see how we all feel together. Also having a new drummer on board… Yeah, it's basically a look-see for now. It's not a full commitment to writing a new album, but we have discussed it, and it's sort of not out of the question, but it's also not a hundred percent, 'Yes, we'll do it.'"

Asked if there are MORTAL SIN songs that are left over from different eras of the band that he and his bandmates could work on to create a new album, Mat said: "I wouldn't do it. I feel that's cheating. When METALLICA brought their 'Death Magnetic' [album] out, to me it sounded like they just went through and found all these old songs and [said], 'Let's redo these.' I don't know. That was my opinion.

"Look, we've already put out — on various bootleg CDs — we've put old tracks, stuff that we never released," he explained. "So we've already done all of that, and I think it's such a long time between now and when we were playing and did release an album that I think you've gotta come at it with fresh ears, fresh eyes, fresh head, all new, because it might be better. Sometimes old is not better. Sometimes new is better… It's kind of like looking at photos. A photo is a snapshot in time. An album is a snapshot in time as well. It's what you did at that time. It's what creativity you had at that time. And everybody changes. In 14 years, so much happens in your life. You've got a whole new bunch of material that's in your head of all your experiences and all the things that happened in your life. So why would you go back? Let's just draw on those experiences."

When the MORTAL SIN reunion was announced in July, Eftichiou said in a statement: "Picking up the bass again for MORTAL SIN after all these years feels like coming home — loud, chaotic, and a hell of a lot of fun. We've still got something to say, and I can't wait to hit the stage with the boys and bring that energy back to the fans."

Last month, the Australian thrashers dropped a new lyric video for "Mayhemic Destruction", the title track of the debut album they started recording at Sydney's Studio 301 on Friday, July 25, 1986.

MORTAL SIN's latest album, "Psychology Of Death", was released in Europe in November 2011 via NoiseArt Records. The effort included the group's classic debut LP, "Mayhemic Destruction", as a bonus disc in the limited digipak version. The follow-up to 2007's "An Absence Of Faith" was mixed with producer/engineer Darren "jENK" Jenkins and marked the recording debut of guitarist Ryan Huthnance, who replaced Mick Sultana.

MORTAL SIN in 2009 released a live album, "Into The Inferno (Live In Oslo)" , via Riot! Entertainment. The CD, which contained the group's March 2008 performance in Oslo, Norway, was described by the band as "possibly the best live show MORTAL SIN have ever had recorded."

Once hailed as the next METALLICA, MORTAL SIN have become legends in their home country Australia, having been inducted into the Kerrang! Heavy Metal Hall Of Fame in 2005 and being the only Australian band to have played with the big five of thrash — METALLICA, SLAYER, ANTHRAX, MEGADETH and TESTAMENT — on tours in Australia and overseas.