Mordell - Grim, Old And Evil
Prepare for some filthy, catchy black metal in the spirit of perversion and death. Poland's Mordhell are a three piece that perform gritty, rock and roll vibed music that embraces pure misanthropy. With only a few EPs and demos since 2003, their sole debut came to light in 2008. Grim, Old, And Evil certainly lives up to it's name. The music is distorted and raw enough to be considered grim, 2008 was two years ago so people are already considering that old, and the lyrics and track themes is pure evil. Anyone who is a fan of sadistic metal should enjoy this.
Grim, Old, And Evil offers a lot of short tracks in the span of playing time, but each holds true to the dark, gritty feel that made 90s black metal so popular. It's solely music created by guitars, drums, and vocals (no symphonic frills) and the atmosphere is truly old school. The rhythms created on tracks such as "Sadistic" and "Shotgun Suicide" are very punk inspired and grim in the way that Darkthrone performed their ever changing style; today they've gone almost completely punk. Other tracks such as "Scum Of The Earth" and "Sordid Death" are more black metal inspired for the razor sharp riffs, slower tempos, and attempting to make the music sound as evil and morbid as possible. There's not much to the musical formula as it is mostly repetitive, but for some reason it works for black metal.
The lyrical content seems to be a bit silly at times as all it embraces is killing people, people killing themselves, or sexual perversions. For the 90s it was extreme, but for today's standards (and even 2008 standards) it seems a bit laughable and silly because so many bands embrace the concept and tell the same story so many ways. While Mordhell does seem to try to keep up the satanic spirt and imagery of the black metal scene, the shock value of such music seems to have died out. It's normal to expect such content from black metal so fans may be a little disappointed by getting what they expect, and at the bare minimum. Time and time again has there been a raw, necro black metal band trying to recreate Darkthrone's sound, and while they may have succeeded, they haven't really done anything fantastic. Mordhell is sadly one of those bands.
However, if listeners are inclined to love Darkthrone imitators, or bands that have the groovy, rock n' roll edge of a band like Khold (who took Darkthrone's style but made it their own by slowing down tempo and offering much more groove and pure Norwegian lyrics- now THAT'S how you build on a style), then Mordhell is certainly worth checking out. The lyrics may seem a bit silly and the corpsepaint is getting a little clownish more than theatrical, but one has to admit that the band knows how to create filthy, raw black metal. The darker, the better, and Mordhell are one of the darker bands. It is just that they're crowded in with a bunch of other 'dark' bands that preach the same thing, creating a cacophony of black metal hate and misanthropy. Let evil be known once more!
Grim, Old, And Evil offers a lot of short tracks in the span of playing time, but each holds true to the dark, gritty feel that made 90s black metal so popular. It's solely music created by guitars, drums, and vocals (no symphonic frills) and the atmosphere is truly old school. The rhythms created on tracks such as "Sadistic" and "Shotgun Suicide" are very punk inspired and grim in the way that Darkthrone performed their ever changing style; today they've gone almost completely punk. Other tracks such as "Scum Of The Earth" and "Sordid Death" are more black metal inspired for the razor sharp riffs, slower tempos, and attempting to make the music sound as evil and morbid as possible. There's not much to the musical formula as it is mostly repetitive, but for some reason it works for black metal.
The lyrical content seems to be a bit silly at times as all it embraces is killing people, people killing themselves, or sexual perversions. For the 90s it was extreme, but for today's standards (and even 2008 standards) it seems a bit laughable and silly because so many bands embrace the concept and tell the same story so many ways. While Mordhell does seem to try to keep up the satanic spirt and imagery of the black metal scene, the shock value of such music seems to have died out. It's normal to expect such content from black metal so fans may be a little disappointed by getting what they expect, and at the bare minimum. Time and time again has there been a raw, necro black metal band trying to recreate Darkthrone's sound, and while they may have succeeded, they haven't really done anything fantastic. Mordhell is sadly one of those bands.
However, if listeners are inclined to love Darkthrone imitators, or bands that have the groovy, rock n' roll edge of a band like Khold (who took Darkthrone's style but made it their own by slowing down tempo and offering much more groove and pure Norwegian lyrics- now THAT'S how you build on a style), then Mordhell is certainly worth checking out. The lyrics may seem a bit silly and the corpsepaint is getting a little clownish more than theatrical, but one has to admit that the band knows how to create filthy, raw black metal. The darker, the better, and Mordhell are one of the darker bands. It is just that they're crowded in with a bunch of other 'dark' bands that preach the same thing, creating a cacophony of black metal hate and misanthropy. Let evil be known once more!
- Grim, Old And Evil
- Repulsive Sexual Perversion
- Scum Of The Earth
- Sadistic
- Piss On Your Grave
- Shotgun Suicide
- Total Fuckin Terror
- Attempt To Self Destruction
- Slag Treatment
- Sordid Death
- Absolute Fucking Annihilation
- Mass Execution
- Nekroforest II
Fallen Angel
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
May 27, 2010
May 27, 2010
Next review:
Insanity Arise - Sinnerside
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