Blut Aus Nord - MoRT review
| Band: | Blut Aus Nord |
| Album: | MoRT |
| Style: | Avantgarde metal, Industrial black metal |
| Release date: | September 18, 2006 |
| Guest review by: | !J.O.O.E.! |
01. Chapter I
02. Chapter II
03. Chapter III
04. Chapter IV
05. Chapter V
06. Chapter VI
07. Chapter VII
08. Chapter VIII
If there was ever a more polarising album I've yet to hear it. There's no "it's not bad" or "it's pretty good," only abject disdain and unparalleled adoration. I may be overstating it somewhat but the case with Blut Aus Nord's most experimental release to date is that it flies so flagrantly in the face of convention you either get it or you don't. Perhaps the biggest reason for this is because there really is no precedent with MoRT. Is it black metal? Is it industrial? It may be both. Then again it may be neither. But then that's part of its ambivalent beauty.
A song by song analysis would be a pointless endeavor, it may be forcibly partitioned into several sections but it is best treated as a whole; one, monolithic cloud of incongruous, alien discordance. In fact at times it seems the only way to describe its contents would be through metaphor, a systematic deconstruction of human sanity via a philosophically nihilistic array of atonal snaking guitar layers, echoing percussion and the odd ghostly murmur through the ambient static all amounting to a Godless anti-harmony. There is no easily discernible structure here. The only time you'll find any kind of secular hook is midway through track 5; a small gift of human vocals, sweeping away the murk for just a moment to give a brief glimpse of what once was, all before shapeless claws drag you back down into the bleak tones once again to siphon whatever humanity remains. This is not an exercise in traditional musical evil using speed, brutality and noise; this is a far more intelligent monster.
The sheer technical prowess of Vindsval is to be commended as this is played almost entirely on a fretless guitar with which he achieves a tremendous amount by simply ignoring everything a normal individual would do, and with this, the perfect accompaniment: W. D. Feld's drum programming; unequivocally second to none in the creation of barren, technical artificiality. The supporting keyboards and ambient filter is on an almost subconscious level adding the final touches to this aural landscape of urban decay, its only tangible representation being album artwork of almost sheer blackness; the unholy vista of a man bereft of sight.
To some it may be pretentious, but it largely depends on what it is you look for in music. If you're after needlessly harsh, typically structured compositions founded on ideas that have no artistic relevance beyond homage then it's been made easy for you, you can find a multitude of them around every corner, tough-guy bravado and Satanic irrelevance abound. If, however, you're willing to expand the horizons of your mind and undergo the necessary deprogramming then you might be in for something truly subversive and groundbreaking.
You either get it, or you don't.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 10 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by !J.O.O.E.! | 23.05.2010
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 24
Visited by: 141 users
| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Well, I am one of those that totally does not get this album. Which might sound weird cause I abslutely loved Thematic Emanation Of Archetypal Multiplicity. even though I don't get MoRT I do find it much more interesting than the generic melodic black metal featured on Ultima Thulée, Memoria Vetusta I: Fathers of the Icy Age and Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue with the Stars. Those three are unjustifiably praised if you ask me.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Mikyz Posts: 711  |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 24.05.2010 at 13:33 MoRT is an acquired taste, it's enjoyable but not groundbreaking. @Marcel, I honestly don't understand why you find those 3 albums to be generic, they're more than solid especially Memoria Vetusta I: Fathers of the Icy Age, the riffs are catchy and raw to say the least, so I believe that your judgment only applies on a personal scale because those three albums are far from being unjustifiably praised, I could write a a whole page praising the concept and the musicianship of those releases. 
---- Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Mikyz on 24.05.2010 at 16:12 Why I call those three albums generic is cause they offer the sort of black metal that has been done to death by others as well, adding nothing new to the bm spectrum at all. Yes the riffs are raw and catchy but that doesn't make it any less generic.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| Mikyz Posts: 711 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 24.05.2010 at 16:27 I personally don't know anything similar, this a good album the creepiest one I have ever heard but it's not something I'd like to listen to on a regular basis. In my opinion this is certainly unique but not breathtaking/groundbreaking/earjerking material, it delivers weird landscapes that are far from being repulsive but they're not what I would call replay value material. Unique doesn't necessarily imply masterpiece. All in all this is a solid release, but not as appealing as there other outputs.
---- Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| Mikyz Posts: 711 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 24.05.2010 at 17:34 Agreed.  I think that this album qualifies as Ambient/Industrial Black Metal with touches of Drone Doom, while not sounding similar to any of those specific genres. As a whole ethereal entity it does evoke an overly bleak atmosphere, so it certainly qualifies as Atmospheric Black Metal, but with the addition of the eerie soundscapes and guitar layers the Drone Doom sound doesn't seem foreign at all. What I forgot to say before was that the album despite all of the feelings it awakens is redundant, so sitting through the whole album is, if you're not in the right mood, a challenge (shortening the album could lessen the yawning). All I'm saying is that is a good album that partially accomplishes what it aims at (for me).
---- Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.
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| Kenos Account deleted |
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| InnerSelf proofread free Posts: 2695  |
I hope this has a "Procession of Dead Clowns" or "Epitome 2" vibe cause those two songs are what I like most about BaN , I really appreciate their up-tempo BM parts and really love it in some cases but the approach on the former two songs is what keeps pulling me back to this band
---- He who is not bold enough to be stared at from across the abyss is not bold enough to stare into it himself.
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| InnerSelf proofread free Posts: 2695 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 09.09.2011 at 04:42 Any part of their discography resembles those songs ? and I'm gonna check it out anyway seems like it is something worth checking judging by your review
---- He who is not bold enough to be stared at from across the abyss is not bold enough to stare into it himself.
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by InnerSelf on 09.09.2011 at 18:18 Maybe some stuff on Thematic Emanation of Archetypal Multiplicity, a hugely underrated gem of an EP if you ask me. That aside, not really which is a shame as I love them the most when they do it like that.
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| Jaeryd Nihil's Maw Posts: 1062  |
"...one, monolithic cloud of incongruous, alien discordance... ...a systematic deconstruction of human sanity via a philosophically nihilistic array of atonal snaking guitar layers, echoing percussion and the odd ghostly murmur through the ambient static all amounting to a Godless anti-harmony." That is the most perfect metaphor I've ever seen, and does a better job of describing the way this album sounds than anything I had thought was possible.
---- 
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by Jaeryd on 27.10.2015 at 23:42 Thanks! I have to be honest though; I've often reread that passage and never been sure if it even really makes sense. I think it does. I was probably just in the zone at the time or something. Cheers though!
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| mz Posts: 4827  |
Any news with his new side project which is supposed to sound like MoRT?
---- Giving my ears a rest from music.
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| mz Posts: 4827 |
And shame, 9 does not do the justice for this record. One of the easiest 10s I've ever given.
---- Giving my ears a rest from music.
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| Vombatus Potorro Posts: 2393  |
Written by mz on 28.10.2015 at 01:17 Don't think anything new happened, but should appear in due time on the website The Empyrean Lodge (regroups all Vindsval projects). Probably would be the one called "777" as the others have more members. But it looks kinda dead with no updates for a while, the Codex Obscura Nomina split doesn't even appear with Aevangelist though it got announced a while ago.
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| mz Posts: 4827 |
Written by Vombatus on 28.10.2015 at 03:26 I'm fairly sure that Ekstasis is the band meant to sound like MoRT. Once I asked their fb and they replied that they have plans for an split. Do not really know what that 777 project is for.
---- Giving my ears a rest from music.
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| Metren Dreadrealm Posts: 1410  |
One of the best reviews on the site. One of the g.o.a.t. albums too. It sounds better and better with each passing year since more and more formulaic bm (especially in the atmospheric subgenre) gets pumped out all the time.
---- My one-man project's Bandcamp with free downloads: https://dreadrealm.bandcamp.com/
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| Mercurial Posts: 1175  |
Written by Metren on 06.06.2019 at 09:52  My grammar was absolutely terrible here though.I agree though, this album never fails to feel old or irrelevant, and with each new play still blows me away.
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| Metren Dreadrealm Posts: 1410 |
Written by Mercurial on 06.06.2019 at 10:25 Haha! I am not a native English speaker, so I couldn't tell.  All I know is that Your review was spot-on! Maybe the album is just so good that in order to describe it's non-traditional structure and sound, You needed to abandon traditional English grammar.  Which I guess means that the best review this album could ever have could only be written by Bad English? ...perish the thought! 
---- My one-man project's Bandcamp with free downloads: https://dreadrealm.bandcamp.com/
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| Mercurial Posts: 1175 |
Written by Metren on 06.06.2019 at 10:39 I think Bad English reviewing the most complex, challenging albums that are really far from his tastes would be a great April Fools thing for the site
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