Blut Aus Nord - Mort
Candlelight Records – CDL157 – 10/03/2006
By Nathan Pearce
I’ll start by saying that I think Blut Aus Nord is EASILY one of the most talented metal bands on the planet. Their evolution from progressive pagan metal to ultra-progressive black hole metal has been a gradual undertaking that has been nothing short of astonishing. This band approaches each album on its own terms, and Mort is no exception.
Mort is technically a single composition split up into eight parts. Unlike Meshuggah’s amazing Catch 33, Mort is definitely meant to be heard as one song. It would have actually been better if the band/label wouldn’t have split the song into 8 parts. Mort is a focused experiment in total deprivation. By this I mean the listener is deprived of everything they want to hear. Guitars are constantly detuing (sort of Blut Aus Nord’s signature sound), vocals come at the listener from different angles, and the music just swirls to no end. Listeners never get the satisfaction of hearing a riff or vocal line that they can catch on to. Listeners can’t even get the satisfaction of feeling like the sound is coming out of their speakers correctly. But this is what Mort is supposed to sound like. Never before has a metal album been so successful in achieving both physical and mental unbalance in the listener. If you were to take the slightly ambient or “psychedelic” parts from The Work Which Transforms God and magnify them, perfect them, and make them even darker, you would basically have Mort.
This album creates nothing short of the feeling of falling endlessly down a deep, dark hole. Mort will unsettle you and it will probably piss you off a little, but it will never be a cliché. If you’re in the need for something unique and frightening, this is your album. I can’t wait to see where Blut Aus Nord goes from here.
8.5/10
UM’s Review Rating Scale
Blut Aus Nord’s Official Website
Candle Light’s Official Website
Candlelight Records – CDL157 – 10/03/2006
By Nathan Pearce
I’ll start by saying that I think Blut Aus Nord is EASILY one of the most talented metal bands on the planet. Their evolution from progressive pagan metal to ultra-progressive black hole metal has been a gradual undertaking that has been nothing short of astonishing. This band approaches each album on its own terms, and Mort is no exception.
Mort is technically a single composition split up into eight parts. Unlike Meshuggah’s amazing Catch 33, Mort is definitely meant to be heard as one song. It would have actually been better if the band/label wouldn’t have split the song into 8 parts. Mort is a focused experiment in total deprivation. By this I mean the listener is deprived of everything they want to hear. Guitars are constantly detuing (sort of Blut Aus Nord’s signature sound), vocals come at the listener from different angles, and the music just swirls to no end. Listeners never get the satisfaction of hearing a riff or vocal line that they can catch on to. Listeners can’t even get the satisfaction of feeling like the sound is coming out of their speakers correctly. But this is what Mort is supposed to sound like. Never before has a metal album been so successful in achieving both physical and mental unbalance in the listener. If you were to take the slightly ambient or “psychedelic” parts from The Work Which Transforms God and magnify them, perfect them, and make them even darker, you would basically have Mort.
This album creates nothing short of the feeling of falling endlessly down a deep, dark hole. Mort will unsettle you and it will probably piss you off a little, but it will never be a cliché. If you’re in the need for something unique and frightening, this is your album. I can’t wait to see where Blut Aus Nord goes from here.
8.5/10
UM’s Review Rating Scale
Blut Aus Nord’s Official Website
Candle Light’s Official Website
