Since their conception in Istanbul just prior to the turn of the Millennium, Moribund Oblivion have had six previous full length albums since the original EP released in 2002 and the last album, Turk, released in 2015, set the standard fairly high with the power, savagery and precision that was expelled by these Middle Eastern warriors.
Moribund Oblivions latest offering, ‘Endless’, blasts you from the outset and it is relentless in its delivery of this musical battery. ‘Endless’ has depth and intimacy, and is layered upon itself within each track causing a tsunami of brutality and malevolence without any real pause.
The album opens with ‘Death Is With You’, an absolute beast of a track and the recipe for this track is obviously to cause harm and cause it with no respite. ‘Endless’ allows Uludaglar the freedom to let the vocals track the soundscape and create peaks and troughs in order to mirror up against the ebs and flows of the ferocity of the bruising delivery. Mid track there is some slight downtime when the track offers a slightly classical and delicate intermission before getting back into the ferocity and power of the track which we have been carved open to from the offset.
‘Winter’ continues the album in the same vein and we continually see a beautifully barbarous DNA for each track which we come across on this latest release from this Turkish black metal squad. Each track slightly differs from its siblings and each injects an element of individuality whilst maintaining enough of the same outline as its next of kin, thus causing enough change to keep interest held from the listener yet sticking to the same recipe so as not to alienate fans of the style.
There are some highlights on the album with are worthy of individual note. ‘This Is Your Fight’ starts with a strained intro before launching into some epic guitar riffing which leads the way for some more demonic and maniacal vocal skills. the track sits atop some callous and baroque drum work and string efforts whilst the pace is turned up a notch from some of the other tracks on the release.
‘Renunciation’ is also worthy of singling out, starting with an atmospheric and decadent guitar piece, conjuring up images of candle flooded vast cavernous gothic halls, this guitar work alone seems to tell a story of its own before the track descends into the pits of hell with the measured and torturous work we are now mare familiar with. The beautiful opening seems to have spurred the vocals to become more complex and rounded than before, yet still encompassing a degree of rawness and vitriolic air to the aural, vicious spitting out of the black arts.
This is a black metal album which demands, and is worthy of- time and effort in order to soak up and really appreciate the complexity and enormity of the album and the tracks individuality. If these blackened Turks are not on your radar yet, then it’s time to crack out the compass because your radar must well and truly be broken.
(8/10 Phil Pountney)
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