Album Type:Album
Date Released:
Feb 22nd 2014
Label:
Taxi
Driver Records
Mope – S/T -
track listing:
1.Old Grey Street
07:31
2.Doomed To Feed The
Ground 12:57
3.La Caduta 09:57
Bio:
MOPE
is an instrumental doom metal band formed in Genova (Italy) in 2011
by Fabio Cuomo (Drums // Eremite), Stefano Parodi (Bass // Vanessa
Van Basten), Jessica Rassi (Guitar // The Giant's Lab) and Sara Twinn
(Saxophone // Folagra). They love minimalist and repetitive but heavy
and distorted drones and stoner doom metal riffs, together with slow
ambient/jazz environments. Each member comes from a different music
background but they all agree on listening to Earth, Om and Sleep.
What comes out is a mix of heavy sonorities and elements of
avant-garde metal, with the saxophone as a peculiar vocal line. For
fans of Yakuza, Minsk, Callisto but also any doom metal, post metal,
stoner and psychedelic music lover.
Mope's
self-titled debut album will be out on 22nd February 2014, released
by Taxi Driver Records (Genova, Italy) in CD and digital format.
"Mope" was recorded at Cdm, then mixed and mastered at El
Fish Recording Studio. The CD cover artwork is a drawing by Jessica
Rassi (The Giant's Lab).
Band
Members
Drums:
Fabio Cuomo (Eremite)
Bass:
Stefano Parodi (Vanessa Van Basten)
Guitar:
Jessica Rassi
Saxophone:
Sara Twinn (Folagra)
Review:
Less
than a minute into opening track Old Grey Street I knew I was
listening to something very different. Out of a modest, lone drum
beat comes not a crushingly heavy riff (that comes a few moments
later) but the unexpected, sultry tones of a saxophone. This is not
standard doom metal as we have come to know it.
Instrumental
band Mope, from Genoa, Italy, have hit the ground running with their
debut full-length record, which is as simplistic as it is alluring
and, clocking in at the half hour mark, is as teasing as it is
captivating. The contrast between the records slow-jazz moments as
well as the clear, defined saxophone where the vocal lines should be,
and the rough, sometimes lo-fi sounding guitar riffs and doom metal
gloom is striking yet not overpowering. Really it works far better
than it probably should.
The
band have taken somewhat of a simple, minimalist approach to their
music but that doesn't mean there aren't subtle yet commanding
intricacies. Upon first listen I was instantly taken with the record
but maybe felt as though I was left ever so slightly underwhelmed. On
repeated listens I have realised this is not the case. You will find
no frantic tempo here, no sudden or sharp changes in its pace, but
rather a weary, sorrowful yet graceful journey so unrelenting in its
misery that you may just find your mind wandering or shutting down
towards it's conclusion. However, listen to the record again and you
may just be rewarded with very small yet very significant qualities
within it that slipped your attention. It's oh so easy to find a
dark-jazz record so repetitive and simplistic in its nature that it
leaves you feeling it lacks any kind of spark whatsoever. Mope have a
spark. Briefly and sporadically flickering back into life throughout
a peaceful slow-burn.
With
the albums three tracks woven together with an interlude of slow,
ambient drone and a piano mirroring the elegance of the saxophone,
Mope are not making music that will feature on the playlist for your
next party. You aren't going to play this record through earphones
when you go for a run or first thing in the morning with coffee to
energise you for the long day ahead. Mope are not making music to
bang your head to. Instead this is a thirty minute trip through
darkened, dingy clubs bathed in thick cigar smoke or a lonely late
night stroll through a city illuminated with bright lights yet
seemingly devoid of life. This is a band making the kind of music
that fits their name exactly.
Written
by Neil Ainger
Thanks
to Sara at Taxi Driver Records for sending us a promo of this
excellent album. Mope S/T album is available to buy on DD and CD now
from Taxi Driver Records BandCamp Page.
