I’m sure that many of you out there follow this French label avidly such is its enduring quality and penchant for releasing wholly spellbinding and intriguing black metal releases. There are some labels, such as this one, where you could quite comfortably buy one of their album and more or less guarantee that you will like it. It takes you back to the years when you had to do that when buying albums, pre-internet days, when you took the plunge and hoped for the best usually by looking at the album cover. This is Mòr’s first full length though the band has been in operation since 2015 releasing a demo and a live album, but it should be noted that both members of this project play in other bands, namely Iffernet for B. and Telümehtår for Lord Telümehtår, the latter of which I’m not familiar with but can recommend the former wholeheartedly if you’re unfamiliar with them.
There is something sinister residing within these nine songs, lurking in a way that only black metal can deliver, menacing and oozing malevolence exuding from every second of its duration that makes this album extremely captivating to listen to. Opener ‘The Vanishing Of Matter’ blasts in with no time to settle down unlike many black metal albums that use intros or samples to gently wean you in. The blasting is softly done, and whilst the mix of the album has that softer less abrasive shroud it is no less pernicious and hideous. Added to that the very effective harsh vocals are married to the oft delivered guitar hooks that infest this release. It is inherently melodic, yet intrinsically barbaric equally which is not easy to do without compromising in some way as the opener’s aggression flows straight into ‘Eden’. Here the pace seems to amplify substantially as the songs inhuman velocities are hooked into the myriad of guitar inflexions. Occasionally you get some progressive structuring, not through the tempos or guitar work per se but through the interweaving of various elements as the vocals take on their own textural capacity.
‘Third Path’ offers the first respite on the speed, where a melancholic riff and solemn aura pervades. There are no vocals on the tune preferring to focus solely on the music which has palpable tension and a charismatic melodicism. The lack of pace affords the song a more intimidating ethos too, bordering on grandiose in places it has a bleakness that crafts ghostly eeriness. With an isolated guitar opening ‘The Apprentice’ returns the album to more familiar blackened savagery, though the pacing is still relatively tempered as the vocals return to add their own layer of hideousness. In some respects I preferred the slower material rather than the much rawer primal songs which only serves to suggest the album is multifaceted with unerring contrasts as ‘Cave Of Shadows’ shows, which also begins with an isolated austere guitar riff that bridges the gap between ‘The Apprentice’ and the epic ‘The Letter Of Loss’ which spans the eight minute mark. ‘The Letter Of Loss’ is a much harsher affair, its epic qualities reside in its monumental arrangements and infestation of riffs and hooks. Noticeably the song has a prolonged almost repetitive first couple of minutes that I really liked, giving the listener time to immerse into the songs intensity. Adding to that intensity is the way it switches very smoothly into blast realms that has an equally prolonged phase giving the song a morosity right before it abruptly stops to leave a despondent guitar melody. That pause gives the song another foundation on which to return to full black metal which it does with sumptuous savagery, though keeping the speed down to allow the song to become epic and atmospheric.
‘Sulfur’ is much more like the opening tracks, its nihilistic blackened ferocity offers an intense barrage that returns the album to that much rawer styling, though I should add this isn’t the lo-fi black metal you might be thinking about. The closing doublet of the album is superb, beginning with ‘Sutcivni Los’ which continues the barbaric onslaught set down by ‘Sulfur’ unleashing a continuous almost hypnotic blitzing tempered by various drum fills and the caustic feral vocals. Closing is ‘Smaragdina’ which has a dramatic impacting opening, laden with drum work, the song unveils an opaque riff and excellent hook that is melodic yet utterly primordial. Again we get that sense of elongated repetition which only adds to the songs intensity as it shows no signs of abating. In fact it speeds up marginally after a couple of minutes to layer on ever increasing potency, right before the awesome switch in pace to unfurl a very catchy segment I really enjoyed, especially with the brilliant riff break in the last minute or so.
An excellent debut from French band Mòr, one for those into their extreme atmospheric black metal with a hefty of dose of primal blackened butchery added.
(8.5/10 Martin Harris)
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