Band: Mòr
Album: Hear the Hour Nearing!
Genre: Raw/Atmospheric Black Metal
Country: France
Label: Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions
Released: April 12th, 2024
Introduction
So we have a ‘new’ kid on the block, well not exactly new according to Metal Archives, the band was founded in 2014. They released a demo in 2015 and a live album in 2022 (which contains the same songs as the full album we review here), but they released their first full album in 2024, so in my book this is a new discovery.
But as we all known new doesn’t mean that you deliver a bad album by default (and that’s a good thing) otherwise we wouldn’t have the new influx of black metal bands we have the last few years.
Another thing we do know about the band is that they are from France, and to my experience that’s usually a good thing. I love the French black metal scene, and they released some great albums this year alone. Moreover, one of my favorite BM albums is from Gorgon (The Lady Rides a Black Horse) so Mòr being French is a bonus.
So we have an old band with their debut full length, how will it stand up to their contemporary countrymen?
Hear the Hour Nearing!
Track list:
- The Vanishing of Matter
- Eden
- Third Path
- The Apprentice
- Cave of Shadows
- The Letter of Loss
- Sulfur
- Sutcivni Los
- Smaragdina
I could write a very, very short review about this, and just tell you it’s a great album and give it a score, but that wouldn’t be much of a review. So I’ll go into a bit more detail (not too much though, because I strongly believe listening to music is a journey, and you need to undergo that journey by yourself).
The first track of the album, The Vanishing of Matter, gives a great picture of the rest of the album. You get that dissonant feeling, but there is also a thrash underlining throughout the song. This song is made to be blasted out of your speakers to form a wall of sound. From the first time I heard this song, it reminded me of the Belgian black metal band Wiegedood, they both have that massive, dense soundscape with that sweet dissonant touch.
And that feeling of being immersed in their sonic world stays throughout the entire album. Some songs are more thrash like, such as the third song of the album titled Third Path that starts with a more thrash vibe, but that wall of sound never dessolves.
The Letter of Loss is one of my favorite tracks on this new album. It has that dense sound, great guitars and the drums go off like machine guns, which I truly enjoy. Another thing worth mentioning is the vocals. They are spot on, the screams are nasty, and you really get the feeling that the vocalist is trying to make a point.
Finally, the cover and the production of the album. The cover has a very primal look to it, you can see mountains, elements of a star-filled sky and alike. It strikes me as an expression of our primal needs and lusts, and it fits the music like a glove. What also helps is the proper production of the album. All the instruments are mixed in well and they are placed at their proper place. The same goes for the vocals, nothing is overshadowing one or the other.
So after many listening sessions with this album, it’s time to give a conclusion
Conclusion
I can be very short about it, do you like dissonant black metal with a thrashy vibe to it? Give this album a try, you won’t be disappointed. For all the other black metal aficionados out there, do the same and give this album a try! I enjoyed it and looking forward to the future of Mòr
BMZ Rating: 8 out of 10
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