Tuesday 23 July 2013

Moss - Moss's Horrible Night (Album Review)



Album Type : Full Length
Date Released :  25/3/2013
Label : Rise Above Records

Moss’s Horrible Night, albums track listing:
1). Horrible Nights 10:58
2) Bleeding Years 07:05
3) Dark Lady 11:04
4) Dreams from the Depth (Instrumental) 04:18
5) The Choral of Chaos 10:02
6) I Saw Them That Night 10:43

Bio
formative ambition of being slower and heavier than the slowest, heaviest band you can think of - MOSS is known for unleashing true audial darkness and claustrophobia upon their listeners. The crypt-crushing, drug-crazed occult horror sound of 2005's Cthonic Rites, 2008's Sub Templum, 2009's Tombs Of The Blind Drugged 10" and the Eternal Return 12" gradually refined and redefined their suffocating underground doom with impenetrable esoteric themes, and gained them a fearsome reputation as one of the worlds foremost purveyors of what is unequivocally heavy. After 13 years, where does such a band go from there? How can they push the envelope any further than it has already been pushed? Enter 2013's Horrible Night

Line-up:
Drums – Chris Chantler
Guitar – Dominic Finbow
Vocals – Olly Pearson

Review:

And what a horrible night it actually is. The Southampton mob returns with it's latest occult offering of pure Doom dementia. Once again overseen by the shadowy forces at Rise Above HQ, Moss delivers the goods at a painfully slow pace, like a snail with lethargy. Looks like Doom, tastes like Doom, spreads like Doom - oh, it's Doom alright.

'Horrible Night' begins proceedings in typical fashion, cut in the bowels of Hades using cursed amplifiers. You'll need manual handling training to be able to listen to this fucker properly, it's that heavy. You could do yourself a damage if you go about listening to this like a maverick of some kind. A band that has no bassist and yet pretty much lives in the deep end is still an amazing spectacle. The murky production and the echoing vocals are just the pitch black icing on the rancid cake. Mmm, doom cake.

'Dark Lady' slithers forth from an initial dull squeal of feedback, all serpentine and seductive, but still obese in terms of sound. Over 11 minutes of just the most foul and debauched and possibly unholy audio squalor drugged up to the eyeballs and soaked in melancholy. Which is nice?

'Coral of Chaos' is equally as morose, and just as monolithic. This record is an exercise in hypnotism, in mind altering effects issued from speakers. Its pure amp worship in it's truest form, funeral march drums melded with depressive riff mongering. The fact that the vocals are clear will always make Moss seem even more creepy than some of their peers.

All in all this is another great slab of ritualistic Doom from Moss, and from Rise Above (who do some neat vinyl offerings for those of you inclined). In a year of some impressive heaviness, this measures right up there with a lot of the other stuff you've been submitting your listening holes to recently - trust me on this. 'Moss's Horrible Night' is available everywhere now, so go grab yourself a copy today.

Words by : Matt Fitton

As ever, show your support to the band by checking them out at the various links.  You can buy the here or just about any other outlets  Thanks to Noise Cartel for hooking us up with the record for review.