“Turkish Black Metal” is what’s advertised on the sleeve of my copy of this album. “Manevi” is the fifth album by this band from Istanbul.
“Manevi” translates as “spiritual” or “ghostly” and I’d say it’s the atmospheric sections which are the strength of this album. After a powerful intro, it’s straight into some fiery and pulverising black metal. That’s “Yara” (meaning Wound or Trauma or Injury according to the translator I’m using) and it’s fine but where this work gets going is “Bahti Kara” (Dark Cloud). Its structure is interesting and engaging. There’s a traditional sounding guitar element adding flavour. Strangely, there’s an element of Omnium Gatherum about the sustained intensity. I say strangely, because whilst I didn’t know what to expect, I wasn’t expecting a Turkish band to create the intense ambiance of Finland and of warriors in forests recounting heroic battle tales. I don’t know if that’s what this album is about, but that’s the atmosphere I smelt, and both “Bahti Kara” and the album are all the better for it. Moving across the border, this epic track ends with a piece of Katatonian guitar work.
This album swings between dark and fiery black metal and the epic world which “Bahti Kara”. I much prefer the latter. “Nefret Açacak” (Hate Will Open Up) doesn’t really go anywhere, but this for me was a momentary blip. “Dünya Dönmeye Devam Edecek” (The World Will Continue to Go) is much richer, mixing the growly with the melodious. There’s a super acoustic break before the band come back with energy and fire. Still more impressive is “Geçip Gittim” (I Went Past). The build-up is epic. The atmosphere suggests that dark fires are burning. Guitars blaze away majestically. An orchestral section creeps in discreetly. The structures here are interesting. It slows down to an acoustic melody. Strange creaking sounds can be heard, or is it a woodpecker in the woods? This again is the music of warriors and heroes.
The next three tracks all share the same qualities of dark passion. Drums resound imperiously, but ferocious and driven as both “Yok” (No) and “Tut Elinden” (Grab Her Hand) are, I didn’t find them inspirational. The track between them “Matemli” (Mourner) captured the strength and the weakness of this album. With an air of warriors singing inspiring battle songs, it’s persistent and epic but it’s repetitive and lacks real fizz. The track dies out to the tune of an interesting keyboard section, but it needs “Ölmek Üzere Unutulmus” (Forgotten Moribund) to take us back into the heights. It does this by slowing things down. The atmosphere becomes more threatening as a result and there’s now the opportunity, which is taken, to turn up the gas and assault us with blasts. Moribund Oblivion are particularly good at creating an atmosphere of devastation and they do it here. The pace changes. The track marches forward steadily. This is good black metal. There’s a chill in the air. The guitar work hypnotises us. In a slight twist there are gothic overtones in the final track “Okyanus” (Ocean). It’s another sullen rant along the lines of Omnium Gatherum but it’s pounding, fiery and majestic, thus bringing this album to an impressive close.
If you can reconcile the fact that Turkish black metal conjures up the image of Finnish forests, or don’t mind, then this will go down well. I found some parts of “Manevi” more inspiring than others. The heaviest tracks have plenty of passion but are competent compared to those tracks which concentrate on melody and dark majesty. All in all, this is a good album from Moribund Oblivion.
(7/10 Andrew Doherty)
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