Swedish act Mondocane released a fine album, ‘Dvala’, in 2021, which I reviewed for the site, and you can check out here, an album abounding with atmospheric causticity but also embellished with subtle keyboards and melodies as once again I have been left floundering as to who is actually in the band. However, that all adds to the mystique and enigma enshrouding the act as this sophomore capitalises on the groundwork laid down on the debut full length with an album brimming with ingenuity and accomplishments.
Opener ‘Rats Of Nimh’, which I assume is about the children’s books of the same name, immediately blankets the listener with a rich sound, something you don’t always hear in black metal but here it truly enhances the songs, affording them a density and opalescence that whilst doesn’t necessarily dazzle it does offer an obsidian shimmer within the ghoulish aura that the songs unveil that had me scribbling down Mortuary Drape as a reference point. The blasted speed of the opener is in stark contrast to the much slower and electronically infused ‘Via Dolorosa’ which utilises a gothic texture to some degree. The choir vocals are excellent too, something I particularly enjoyed throughout the album where deployed, adding substantial drama to the album as it returns to a black ‘n’ roll style on ‘Demons’. Carpathian Forest touches rear up here and even mid-era Immortal, think ‘Damned In Black’, due to the way the song is infested with melody and groove.
There is a relentlessness to ‘Witness’, a transfixing terror that hypnotically holds you steadfast in its grasping pace as the unerring repetition is a facet I like within black metal generally, giving it a 90s vibe as the album switches back to a catchy ethos on the title track. The double bass deluge is excellent too, giving you something to latch onto as I was heavily reminded of very early Enslaved, again due to the way the song has a hypnotic repetition.
A pulse electronic beat begins ‘Mytus’ and it is these subtleties that make ‘Gloria’ such a fine album, there’s always something interesting going on as the tune has a slower pace manifesting as a gothic atmosphere again before the album smacks back with ‘Hydra’. Even here though, there is an experimental nature as the alternating fast and slow passages create the highs and lows of tempo before the slower ‘Soil’ offers a distorted, disturbed and creepy finishing piece.
If you checked out this Swedish bands ‘Dvala’ release then you won’t be disappointed with ‘Gloria’ one iota, the album expands on that release offering more creativity, more musicality and more ambition for an album rammed with creative craft.
(8.5/10 Martin Harris)
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