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More then the worst "Mr. Crowley" cover ever.-
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| Mhorgl: Antinomian |
Black Metal
The Execution Kollective
March 29th, 2011
- Nocturnal Blasphemy - 4:18
- Kiss of Midnight - 5:56
- Iron Clad Destruction - 4:57
- Essence of Evil - 4:50
- Necrohatred (A Tribute to Darkthrone) - 4:44
- Subterranean Assault Beast - 3:05
- The Paean of Hangatyr - 5:39
- Mr. Crowley - 3:21
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| Review Information |
Release length: 36:49
Review posted on March 28th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 5/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
The Sacrificial Flame (2007) | The Antinomian (2011)
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| Demo(s): |
The Shadow of Morgoth (2006)
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| Review |
Mhorgl is an Australian-based Black Metal that formed back in 2004. Initially the group played a more raw brand of Black Metal, but over the years, slowly took on a more modern approach to the quality of their releases, having a more digital sound, with a style that was geared more towards a Melodic Black Metal genre of music then their more raw roots. After a welcome reception by the Black Metal community of their debut full-length effort, The Sacrificial Flame, it had become clear the band was well on their way towards becoming a strong force in the Black Metal scene, still sticking closely to the shadows of the underground scene. But, will fans find the group as strong as ever on their awaited follow-up release, Antinomian?
While one of the elements the band had going for them was a somewhat epic vibe that was crafted thanks to the Melodic Black Metal compositions on their previous effort, Mhorgl kind of drop the ball here on that, as the recording doesn't really feel too epic, but still comes off with some wtrong material that shows the band is heading in the right direction. Many of the songs on here seem to walk that fine line between being considered epic, and just being considered well done Black Metal. The album starts off well enough with "Nocturnal Blasphemy", though it really doesn't have that kick to the music to really make it stand out in any epic sense, as well as seems to go on forever, but not really in a bad, bland, or repetitive way, it just seems like the band tries to make use of every second with a good performance, though there's not a lot of energy coming from the material being played. "Kiss of Midnight" does, however, seem to eventually get into a more epic atmosphere as far as the band's performance goes, but not until near the end. The ending guitar chords also make the song sound a little mmore psychotic in a sense, and it works well for the song, which, again, feels like it goes on forever in the same sense as "Nocturnal Blasphemy". Again, neither tracks have that feeling in a negative way.
Antinomian really sounds good when the band is at their best, putting some real energy into the material. There's no real atmosphere to the recording outside the sporadic element of epic song writing and performance that appear throughout the release, which is sad since the material clearly tries to bring in a dark or gothic-like atmosphere that simply cannot be captured. However, "Iron Clad Destruction" finds the band adding some energy to the performance, as well as a little extra melody to the songs, and it's that extra bit of energy that really gives off a chaotic perform that manages to capture that psychotic vibe that "Kiss of Midnight" kind of ended on. Even the following track "Essence of Evil" does this, being a much faster track however, but a little more technical and utilizing the energy and melodic abilities to weave a subtle atmosphere with a blunt force of energetic inhuman occupancy in the overall music and performance.
Other then "Iron Clad Destruction" and "Essence of Evil", there's nothing else that's all that endearing on the recording other then solid Melodic Black Metal. The production has the bass podded up nicely in the mix, and it really does add a little more to the recording, though the bass lines typically don't stray far from the mimickery of the other guitars. Other tracks on here have some epic vibes to them, like the aforementioned "Kiss of Midnight", but nothing to spectacular. "The Paean of Hangatyr" manages to mix things up nicely, taking a mid-tempo foundation and slipping into a slower pace once in a while, taking on sort of a brooding atmospheric trait to it with guitars that are a little more tehnical and on par with "Essence of Evil", coupled nicely with some random blast beats in the song when the music does pick up.
In addition to those faults, the band's interpretation of the Ozzy classic "Mr. Crowley", however, is an interesting take on the song, but really is a huge let down in the long , coming off more as an abomination then anything, really. Trying to distance the band greatly from the original song, the band basically takes the classic, speeds it up, adds some Black Metal elements to it such as the rhaspy vocals that are done well and adorn the entire album, and in fact are harmonized quite well with the original song's melody. The problem here is that the guitars are absolutely off-the-wall bat-shit-crazy to the point where it completely destroys the song, coming off like one giant Zakk Wylde guitar solo while he was having a seizure. When the song slows down coming to the final third of the song, and really sticks closer to the source material, it sounds good, and the more Black Metal overtones and atmosphere works well with the song, but outside that it's nothing but chords that are an abomination and ruin the underlying cold and rhythmic flow of the song that made the original so catchy and sinister in the first place, replacing it with a sense of Mathcore kids pushing the limits of technical performances to the point of migraines while trying to be Black Metal. On top of all that, you also have "Necrohatred", which sounds unoriginal, but has some great more epic sounding guitars to it that are good enough but really leave the listener hanging. However, for the whole unoriginal thing, the band basically admits the song is a tribute to Darkthrone, so at least there's no surprise, and the band basically admits it's paying homage, literally in the title of the song, so for an homage track it's alright and can slip by for it's unoriginal elements.
But, the tracks that don't necessarily stand out come off more as traditional Melodic Black Metal with nothing all that engrossing behind them. Yes, the band performs their music in a solid manner, and each track here is still enjoyable, but the album really lacks any sort of essence outside a few songs, and it really holds Antinomian down substantially, not to mention the utter garbage that is the band's cover of "Mr. Crowley", which blows my mind since the band seems to lean towards a slight mid-era Cradle of Filth sound at times with the guitars, and yet that band can turn "No Time To Cry" into such a haunting Melodic/Symphonic Black Metal song with Gothic overtones, making it better then the original in my personal opinion. Either way, Mhorgl isn't a bad band at all, and Antinomian is a decent listen, but there's nothing really substantial that will have the listener coming back time and again, and will quickly find itself in the used bin, or having a new job of dust collector in your collection.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
The Execution Kollective.
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