Kavrila
Mor

Mor, means mother if you are from where I am, funny name for an album in the sludge/hardcore style of music. And for a German band. It is their second album, their first was called Blight and it was released a few years ago, they also have a few Ritual EPs released. All these releases have kind of greyish covers, this one has more colour, and it is also darker. It may be to signify that the band took a different approach to recording Mor, compared with the earlier works – in what way I don’t know but the process is irrelevant anyway as the result is all that matters. So what about Mor?

Sludge/hardcore is probably the way to describe it, aggressive metal stuff with hardcore screamy vocals that growl and grunt. It is an album with strong emotions, mostly in the darker reaches, but there is also some light and hope – I think the emotional resonance could have done even better with more hope. The theme became the process of coping as the main songwriter Alex was coping with the loss of his mother, perhaps the reason of the strange name of the album. And it kind of goes like that from the dark to an end where the light is returning, and life goes on.

I think that this album is quite good, with energy, attitude, power, aggression, darkness, and a lot more. It is an album I can listen to and find amusing; it works well and there isn’t much to complain about. But one thing might be lack of originality, there isn’t an abundance of fresh ideas throughout this album. Another might be a lack of an outstanding song, because none of the tracks stand out in either direction and that is something that can make the album seem slightly flat. I think the emphasis on too much darkness shines through here, with a bit more lighter emotions it would have become more dynamic and that would have made a significant improvement to the memorability of the album.

Mor is a good bet for the one into the hardcore and sludge metal style of music, the odds that you will like this album is great. For the greater masses it is most likely an album that is seen as fine but not that special, that is how I see it. I have enjoyed listening to this album but the chances that I will play it again now that I have written about it are extremely low.

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