Morcrof - .:.CODEX.GNOSIS.APOKRYPHV.:. arcano.verba.revelatio.
Starting out their life, as a band, way back in the year of 1992 and pretty much living comfortably in demo and compilation land for a while, which may explain why they did not release a "proper" full length album, "Machshevet Habriá (Myths and Conjectures of Creation,) until thirteen years later in 2005. And now Morcrof have now spent another fourteen years before releasing full length album number two with ".:.CODEX.GNOSIS.APOKRYPHV.:. arcano.verba.revelatio." here. While in that secondary long gap they put out two live albums and a single, odd but apparently that's the pace that Morcrof like to work with. I would also have to guess that the revolving door of members doesn't help keep a band productive either so I guess I shouldn't make it sound like I think they are a lazy band or anything, for they are not. And what does all this time and member movement mean for the new recorded output of Morcof? Well, read on to find out.
Let us first consider the many genre tags that are listed throughout a couple of the websites of theirs that I explored. There happens to be black metal, doom metal, dark metal, extreme metal, sympho black metal and even philosophic dark metal art. What we have before us there is a bunch of tags that really add up to what Morcrof really is, for, from what I hear, they are a doom tinged sympho dark black metal band with an almost progressive way to going about fitting everything together. Sometimes throwing everything together and making it fit together works, other times its sounds cluttered and just a mess. Sadly, Morcrof seem to reside mostly in the latter group. Where they paste and slap together their parts, no matter how good or bad they may be, in ways that seem jumbled and confusing more than fluid and interesting.
Overall, Morcrof has a unique sound that has its origins in doom, black and dark metal but takes it in ways that honestly just seem to be over thought and drawn out. Sometimes that method can work, other times, like this time, it does not. The basic ideas are rather good but the grand total is just too much. I understand that Morcrof are going into this "with the intention of expressing, within extreme music, philosophies that permeate human existentialism through various cultural manifestations that have been, and still are, expressed by man through mysticism, mytism and other occult sciences, which are interpreted in metaphorical letters." But making music that is disjointed and unfocused seems to play at odds with that mission statement.
Don't get me wrong, there are some rather good parts to this album but as a whole it just feels like a drawn out, overdone passion project. Plus, I just couldn't get over the fact that when the vocalist, Eziel Kantele-Väinö, does his singing/chanting parts that it reminds me of Adam Sandler doing his Opera Man persona.
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Let us first consider the many genre tags that are listed throughout a couple of the websites of theirs that I explored. There happens to be black metal, doom metal, dark metal, extreme metal, sympho black metal and even philosophic dark metal art. What we have before us there is a bunch of tags that really add up to what Morcrof really is, for, from what I hear, they are a doom tinged sympho dark black metal band with an almost progressive way to going about fitting everything together. Sometimes throwing everything together and making it fit together works, other times its sounds cluttered and just a mess. Sadly, Morcrof seem to reside mostly in the latter group. Where they paste and slap together their parts, no matter how good or bad they may be, in ways that seem jumbled and confusing more than fluid and interesting.
Overall, Morcrof has a unique sound that has its origins in doom, black and dark metal but takes it in ways that honestly just seem to be over thought and drawn out. Sometimes that method can work, other times, like this time, it does not. The basic ideas are rather good but the grand total is just too much. I understand that Morcrof are going into this "with the intention of expressing, within extreme music, philosophies that permeate human existentialism through various cultural manifestations that have been, and still are, expressed by man through mysticism, mytism and other occult sciences, which are interpreted in metaphorical letters." But making music that is disjointed and unfocused seems to play at odds with that mission statement.
Don't get me wrong, there are some rather good parts to this album but as a whole it just feels like a drawn out, overdone passion project. Plus, I just couldn't get over the fact that when the vocalist, Eziel Kantele-Väinö, does his singing/chanting parts that it reminds me of Adam Sandler doing his Opera Man persona.
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1. Invocatio · Spiritus · Antiquis
2. In · Monolitus · Ex · Avorum · Spiritus · Mundus
3. Preconceptual · Genesis · Circularis · Elementarum · Existentiam
4. Præludium ·:· Aperite · Portæ
5. Portæ · Ex · Solis · Sursum · Aquilonem
6. Existentia · Imperfectum · Es
7. Ad · Infernum · Exilio · Meam
8. Gratiam · Æon · Sapientia · Mundi
2. In · Monolitus · Ex · Avorum · Spiritus · Mundus
3. Preconceptual · Genesis · Circularis · Elementarum · Existentiam
4. Præludium ·:· Aperite · Portæ
5. Portæ · Ex · Solis · Sursum · Aquilonem
6. Existentia · Imperfectum · Es
7. Ad · Infernum · Exilio · Meam
8. Gratiam · Æon · Sapientia · Mundi
