PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Finnish black metal horde Morgal bring forth the Nightmare Lord on their superb first full length album.
Morgal have been hitting the black metal world hard in the face since 2015. With a demo, 3 EPs, a split with fellow countrymen Exitius, and a solitary live album, Nightmare Lord sees the first full length from these nasty sounding blighters!
Typical for a Finnish BM band, Morgal do not hold back. Right from the word go, its lightning paced old school black metal, very much in the vein of early Marduk. What sets Nightmare lord aside from that album, is it is packed with groove. Something that is rarely present within the black metal canon.
7 tracks of blistering face ripping metal…
Yep – that is what you are getting here. Seven tracks clocking in at 36 minutes, that feel far far shorter! As said above, Morgal waste no time with only the lead track “Golden Sun Of Satan” having any real intro. But, its a great atmosphere builder, that lulls you into a false sense of security. I thought it was going to burst into some symphonic BM akin to say Dimmu Borgir. I could not have been more wrong, and pleasantly so! This stampeded forwards like a stream of bullets coming towards you from a Russian Sturmovik aircraft on a strafing run! Bloody hell…..
Before you have caught your breath, and realised you have jumped and spilled your brew over your leg, the rest of the tracks ride roughshod over you in a veritable black metal blitzkrieg. Comparisons to the aforementioned Marduk are not unfair at all here. However, Morgal instead of going purely for all out aggression, have a knack of delivering catchy melody and hooks that really make this a superb album.
Old school done well…
So, yes this is black metal, but done well. Nightmare Lord unlike a lot of “Kvlt” black metal has superb sound and production qualities. No setting up the band in the singers bog, and recording the output on an iPhone3 here! This is great quality, giving a crisp and polished sound, that does not detract from its old school stylings.
Overall, this is an album worthy of repeated listens. The fact that the tracks tear along at such a pace, means that Nightmare Lord is not an album one can get bored of. No tracks that drag their feet, or seem out of place on here. I was not expecting this to be anywhere near as good as it is, so kudos to Morgal. It’s an absolute blinder!
Nightmare Lord is out NOW!
Track Listing
- Golden Sun Of Satan
- Death Vortex
- Extermination/Death Penetration
- Flaming Mouth Of Baphomet
- Gateways Of Flesh & Blood
- Nightmare Lord
- Mortifier
Links
- CD - 10 Euros
