Labels: Self-Released/Blasphemous Mockery
Formats: Vinyl/CD/Tape/Digital
Release Date: 11 Jan 2019
Tracklist:
1. Empyreal Decay
2. The Collector
3. These Once Tranquil Grounds
4. Doomed To Endure
5. Carve My Name
6. Witness To The Abyss
7. Buried By Regret
I am beyond tired now. Public transport was all snarled up after work due to an earlier incident, so I have to hike my way into town to go shopping before heading home. At least it's the weekend now. None of that has anything remotely to do with tonight's review but this is a blog after all! Tonight's band of choice for me is North Carolina's Mo'ynoq, who ply their trade within the USBM scene. "Dreaming In A Dead Language" was self-released by the band in January and was picked up by a label called Blasphemous Mockery for a tape release too. Mo'ynoq are super active on the live front too and will soon be playing alongside Pyrrhon and Woe in August, in Raleigh (NC).
USBM continues to steam on like a well-oiled loco and it never gets old. Mo’ynoq’s iteration of the sound is captivating with tones of treble-led guitar work, drums with the kind of live sound that more established bands could only dream of and the most harrowing of growled vocal deliveries on opener track Empyreal Decay. Atmospheric and maniacal at the same time. There’s a lurch into doom/post-metal territory on The Collector, which comes complete with deep bellows during it’s opening bars before the song is propelled on a faster trajectory. The technicality here is obvious yet not overpowering.
The guitar virtuosity hits new levels on These Once Tranquil Grounds, which hints at a W ITTR influence, at least in the title anyway. Its tempo is relentless yet musicality is not pushed to the side. That’s the thing with bands like this. They have the talent to not just sound blisteringly extreme but also almost embarrassingly good musically. Mid-way through “Dreaming In A Dead Language” you’re allowed time to breath thanks to the majestic piano-led interlude of Doomed To Endure. A whole album of this would have been fine with me!
Lengthy instrumental passages will be nothing new to black metal fans, especially those who like their ’s atmospheric and they may struggle to find a better one than that on Carve My Name. It’s a fantastic way to start what is a huge song. It progresses in movements of varying tempo and technicality, while still retaining the black metal essence that Mo’ynoq has worked hard to forge since their inception in 2016. Penultimate hymn Witness To The Abyss is descriptively accurate because while listening to it, you feel as though you are staring into the black endless void. It’s exactly what black metal should be and while some uber-necro pvrists will turn away after that statement, I stand by it. It’s a great song!
The briefest of pauses is met by closing song Buried By Regret, which is another seven-minute+ rager with icy undertones aplenty. More stupidly fast percussion and precise guitar/bass work sits alongside the extreme vocals, though the instrumentation very much takes centre stage, as it has all through the album. This is another example of the quality of USBM at the current time and Mo’ynoq is definitely destined to break out of the underground with “Dreaming In A Dead Language”. If you haven’t given this album your time yet then you should do so asap. Both band and album are brilliant.
You can stream and purchase the album on all formats below:-
Mo'ynoq - https://www.facebook.com/moynoq/
Blasphemous Mockery - https://www.facebook.com/blasphemousmockery/
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