Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 27/03/2020
Label: Hostile Media
“Mortals”
CD//DD track listing:
1). Coke Vulture
2). Hellfire
3). The Hollow
4). Wall of Time
5). Demotivator
6). Spectral Embrace
The
Review:
With their fourth release, “Mortals”,
ZhOra cement themselves as the
future of sludge with an experimental sound that pays fitting homage to the
past of the genre. The Irish four piece bring forth a hard hitting juggernaut
packed to the brim with dark atmospheres and crunchy riffs sure to satisfy the
palette of the most discerning metal fan.
Self branded as "progressive
sludge," ZhOra craft a sound that is as
unique as it is brutally heavy. “Mortals”
showcases this with its thick ambience and hard chugging riffs which are
brought to life by pulse pounding rhythms. Interesting and varied time
signatures create a surreal experience, giving the album an abstract
atmosphere. It's hard to wrap your head
around, leaving you in a haze, vulnerable to the enormity of the sound.
Throughout all of this, ZhOra keeps one toe firmly
dipped in the murky swamps that birthed Sludge, fusing modern fuzzed out noise
with a traditional doom influence that would make the genre's progenitors in
the American South very proud.
An expert mix lends itself
immeasurably to the excellence of “Mortals”. With a very heavy
and dense wall of sound at its base, each instrument is still allowed to stand
out, with plenty of space to move around. Nothing feels over or under produced.
For a group as talented as this one, it is essential to hear each individual
piece in addition to the sum of their parts.
Far too often does a mix focus itself overwhelmingly on one or the
other. But here, ZhOra grant us access to their
full sonic spectrum. Quite the blessing,
as you won't want to miss any bit of this.
“Mortals”
is a heavy hitter, but it is much more than your average head banger. This one will have you rolling it around in
your mind for long after the final note rings out. A thinking man's record that doesn't skimp on
raw aggression. This one is a keeper.
The
band also had the following to say about the record “We are beyond delighted
to be releasing our third record "Mortals" with Hostile Media. The
album deals a lot with frustration in many different forms, and especially now,
that is a feeling that many people can relate to.
Part
of the frustration we were going through writing "Mortals" was
that, maybe we didn't fully pull off the concept of the last record. It's
important to be able to take a step back and see what you could improve on
rather than blindly surging ahead with the blinkers on. Most importantly, on how
songs will translate live.
So
this album is honest. Lyrically every song is "I'm angry about X; here's
how I feel". The metaphor and the wordplay is still there but you can tell
that the snarl behind each track is something real. Musically, we're pushing
the Death Metal influence much more than before for no real reason other than
we've spent a long time pissed off at various things and it feels good.
In
that way it's probably the most self-indulgent collection of songs we've
written, and as a result - when we didn't get too far into airs and graces; we
made an album we're all truly proud of.
These
songs are for people that are generally fucked off and want to hear fucked off
music. It's what makes you human.
It
makes you Mortal.“
