Polish Mord’A’Stigmata are back with “Ansia”, which is their third full-length and that is released through Pagan Records. This album is in many ways a huge leap from the previous “Antimatter” and the black metal roots becomes more and more diffuse, but coming from a band with an emphasis on being explorative this should not be surprising. The initial track “Inkaust” introduces the listener softly and gentle, like a gloomy melancholy creeping in, and the the crackling analog layer on top is indeed inviting. A typical east european black metal swarming then continues but at around 4.20 there is an unexpected change with heavy guitars, layers of sounds, and a slow rhythm, creating an eerie twist. There are both doom metal, and atmospheric influences on Mord’A’Stigmata which together makes it all very mesmerizing. Even though there are plenty of details in the music, the soundscape feels quite spacious, and the pleasant and vivid reverb on the guitars played by Golem XIV and Static adds a organic touch. The drumming performed by DQ on the album are a little to soft sounding to my taste and it is only in some parts of the songs that they are allowed to come forward, for example 3.30 min and onwards into “Praefatio Pro Defunctis”. In these places Mord’A’Stigmata is pure magic. The vocals of Ion has taken a few step back into the background for this album and are quite uniform compared to the rest of the instruments, with some minor exceptions as in some parts of “Inkaus” where the default-shrieking gives away for cleaner variants. The songs are however quite interesting to follow in general, and the changes within them are never fully expected. For example, in “Shattered Vertebrae of the Zodiac” that begins by being somewhat similar to its predecessor “Inkaust”, the gentle tunes a 4 min into the song builds up to a much more groovy and psychedelic shape. “Pregressed” is a song that starts off being much more in your face and metallic than the others and also has a sinister and rawer feeling to it, while the title track “Ansia” is a smooth outro-like song, which closes the album perfectly. The five songs boil down to just under 50 minutes, but even though this sounds like a recepie for tediousness I am never bored. The negative side of this album is that for the non-focused listener the songs tend to be similar in speed and general structure, which makes them somewhat alike. However, when you are willing to actually listen, then Mord’A’Stigmata offers you a glipse into their non-conventional universe that you can take your retreat into while forgeting the world around you.
-Septikemi
VITALS:
Release: October 29th, 2013
Label: Pagan Records
Avantgenre: Avantgarde Black Metal
Duration: 47:13
Origin: Poland
Official site: None
Review online since: 11.12.2013 / 17:01:25
TRACKLIST:
01 -Inkaust
02 – Shattered Vertebrae Of The Zodiac
03 – Pregressed
04 – Praefatio Pro Defunctis
05 – Ansia
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