Band:	Morost
Album:	Forged Entropy
Style:	Progressive death metal
Release date:	March 2021

01. Afterthoughts
02. Beg
03. Protector Of Sanity
04. Artificial Time
05. Solace In Solitude
06. The Conundrum
07. The Joy Of Pandemonial Ruination
08. Fat Shepherds

Are you looking for a bit more groove in your progressive death metal? Morost have got you covered.

Slovenian group Morost first appeared my radar with their 2014 debut record Solace In Solitude (which shares its name with a song on the new album, funnily enough). Solace In Solitude received a glowing review back when it was released, with Susan enjoying their groove-oriented prog-death sound, as did I for the most part. However, that was 7 years ago, and it had been radio silence from Morost since until sophomore record Forged Entropy was recently announced; how has the band's sound evolved in the meantime?

Well, for an overall genre classification, I guess 'progressive death metal' is probably as good as it ever was for describing Morost's music. The songs are lengthy, with many of them featuring substantial detours from the starting base of the track into frequently softer territory; said starting base is commonly focused around a groovy modern death metal riff. Revisiting Solace In Solitude in preparation for this review, I found that I typically enjoyed the proggy detours (including the use of keyboard, which seems largely absent here), but found the more extreme parts to drag at times. Morost have definitely worked on that, as despite Forged Entropy being substantially longer than its predecessor, I find it to drag far less frequently.

I still find the album peaks during the detours away from that more extreme core; the off-kilter grooves early on in "Protector Of Sanity" do little for me, but once it takes a clean break, the band show their skill at crafting evocative guitar leads, whether a melodic solo or an ominous atmospheric lead. However, Morost have range to their heavier riffing; "Beg"'s first couple of minutes is pretty much a constant tremolo attack, and a satisfying one at that. Some of the chugging that follows isn't as engaging, but it's more than made up for by the second half; Morost delve into a sinister, stripped-down, ritualistic atmospheric build-up that leads into an emphatic tremolo riff.

The above paragraph makes it sound like I dislike the groove side of Forged Entropy, and that's not the case; "Artificial Time" and "Fat Shepherds" are both tracks with meaty, hooky grooves, and both of them also highlight the strong ability of Morost to effectively incorporate guitar leads, with them used to generate a dark, almost Schammasch-esque atmosphere halfway through "Artificial Time". It's just that I find the tracks that branch out least from this core to be some of the less appealing ones on Forged Entropy, with "Solace In Solitude" and particularly "The Conundrum" (the heaviest cut on the record) lacking in terms of memorability when compared with a song like "Beg".

There's some quite creative songwriting present on Forged Entropy; I already flagged "Protector Of Sanity" as a noteworthy song, but towards the end of this multi-faceted track, there's a quirky little stretch that makes me think a bit of Vulture Industries. However, not every new transition is successful; with so many ideas thrown into some tracks, not all of them click, with the aforementioned sinister atmosphere that's built in the middle of "Artificial Time" giving way to an extended riffing section that's a bit choppy in terms of flow. On the flip side, the way that "The Joy Of Pandemonial Ruination" shifts from a bludgeoning, relentless first half into quiet calm before unleashing some sensational lead guitar work is a great example of the kind of exciting journey Morost can take listeners on when they get it right.

Forged Entropy is a solid sophomore effort; it's a clear maturation from Solace In Solitude in terms of the level of songwriting, so it seems like the years these songs spent 'fermenting in the creative minds of Morost' (per the album's promo statement) have resulted in a fine yield. There's still some room for improvement in terms of consistency in the coherence and appeal of the songs, but that should come with time if they continue on their current trajectory, and tracks such as "Beg" ably demonstrate the high level of quality the band are already capable of delivering.