MOORAH „Marnost nad Marnost”

Art Gates Records, 2021

Music: Post-Black Metal
Website:
https://www.facebook.com/MoorahMusic
https://moorah.bandcamp.com/
Duration: 45:00 (8 tracks)
Country: Czechia

Czech band MOORAH is a new incarnation of MOORA. So it can be that the beginnings of the band date back to 2019, and the material with the familiar-sounding title “Marnost nad Marnost” is their debut album. As Czechs are also Slavs, then linguistically this title is easy to understand for me as Pole and the title not without significance refers to the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes, because the literary setting like a black poetry deals with the topics of the influence of religion on a man and concerns the faith and destiny of man in the apocalyptic (perhaps present) world…

As you know, the Czech nation also contributed to the creation of the Black Metal scene, as evidenced by the legendary MASTER’S HAMMER, and its former drummer Ferenc Fečo has just joined the ranks of MOORAH. Perhaps not without reason, because MOORAH in its musical style strongly refers to European black-metal patents from the 90s of the last century, and combined with Czech lyrics the whole atmosphere I strongly associate with Polish underground Black Metal hordes from that period. And even more when the clean sounds of the guitars sound in addition, then my associations focus on the then fledgling genre – Pagan Black Metal.

The atmosphere of the first track, with its keyboard and acoustic intro, which turned into a fast black-metal flashing storm, emphasized the band’s inclinations at the beginning. Although the first track turned out to be the fastest of the whole, the mood remained the same until the end… dark, gloomy, predatory and a bit melancholic at the same time.

However, apart from the inspiration of the Second Wave of Black Metal, which can be clearly heard in the arrangements in the form of fast guitar riffs, arpeggios, “sixteenth” melodic solos interspersed with slower phrases and passages of clean guitars, you can also hear a delicate stigma of modernity and the influence of Blackgaze music with its a sound wall. Many guitar motifs are high-pitched, sharp and biting.
The vocals are ominous and predatory, but somewhat subdued, without hysterical screams and squawks or emotional elations. Also, rarely emerges a feminine clean singing, or rather a melodic vocalise.

And of course, the frequent contrast between the speed of the guitar riffs and the beats of the drums creates a characteristic atmosphere… Sixteenth-note riffs and slow snare drum hits, with a fast bass drum… create a very dark, slightly furious mood… In turn, clean chords and passages create melancholy intensified by some of the solo melodies. A rather moderate pace prevails with frequent tendencies to slowing down, less often to accelerations.

Analyzing in more detail, technically… Apart from the fact that the sound is raw, I have a strange feeling that at times the bass is playing in a different key than the guitars, and at times something does not work together, as if the drums lose the rhythm in some passages. Is this a trick intended to make it sound more retro?

Indeed, this music sounds a bit archaic, like from a bygone era. I have a sentimental approach to it, remembering the 90s. But how will the younger generations perceive it?

Tracklist:
1. Radiant
2. Vyvrátíme modly
3. Sigillum Septima
4. Okem bouře
5. Vstávej
6. Marnöst
7. Nic není
8. Slunovrat

Line-up:
Count Melanchro Hroozah: All lyrics & music, vocals, guitars, bass guitar, production
Des Troyan: Additional Guitars
Seveřan: Additional Guitar, Additional Bass
Nihila: Additional Bass
Ferenc Fečo: Odin‘s Drums

Rate: 7.5/10