By:
Andre Almaraz
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 03/03/2017
Label: Battleground Records
“This Mortal Road” a monolithic behemoth which
starts off with a lumbering, pounding rhythm summoned straight from the bowels
of hell and does not let up its sonic assault for albums duration.
“This Mortal Road” CS//CD//DD//LP track listing:
1).
This Mortal Road
2).
Wind Scopion
3).
Serpent Cult
4).
Swallowed and Lost
5).
Inhumation
The Review:
Rozamov is a band who I’ve been following
for several years now, ever since I had seen them play a small club in Chicago
back in July of 2013. They made an impression on me then that still holds my
interest into the present day and I am pleased to have the opportunity to
review their newest offering. Up for review is their fourth recording, yet
first full length album, “This Mortal Road,” which was just
recently released on March 3rd, 2017.
The
album begins with the title track; a monolithic behemoth which starts off with
a lumbering, pounding rhythm summoned straight from the bowels of hell and does
not let up its sonic assault for almost eleven minutes. The blunt force trauma
of the opening riff is eventually slightly offset by some clean vocals, giving
the opening segment a very haunting and melancholy feel. The tune is primarily
instrumental, but as that thundering opening riff returns toward the end of the
song after an introverted and sullen sounding period in the middle, this time
they choose to scorch over the top of it with aggressive, shouted vocals,
giving it a completely different, more venomous feel the second time around.
The second track, “Wind Scorpion,” keeps the lava flowing freely as the scorching
vocals chime in right from the top and all the way through this one. This song
gives a small ray of hope to the overall bleak landscape by way of a
meaningful, expressive guitar solo near the end; a very nice touch.
The
third track, “Serpent Cult,” would have been perfect for the soundtrack of
the original Conan The Barbarian motion picture as its serpentine riffs
are the sonic equivalent of slithering through the barren desert sands and
across hot rocks as you bake in the midday sun. The vocals accompany almost
every riff in this one, again employing both clean and aggressive variants, and
they all sound phenomenal as always. The fourth track, “Swallowed And Lost,” is a
short piano piece set to a backdrop of blowing winds and ominous spoken word
echoed out to almost unintelligible proportions with some low end rumble and
noise thrown in for good measure. At just under two minutes in length, the
piece serves as a brief intermission from all the downtrodden misery before
they cast you right back into the depths of their devoted and dire devices,
devoid of life, which brings us to the closing track….
“Inhumation” is the longest song on
the recording at a massive eleven and a half minutes from start to finish. This
mournful canticle is a true testament to what Rozamov
truly is, and wraps the album up nicely as they close the final chapter to
leave us stranded in this desolate desert world which they’ve created. The
final four and a half minutes of the song slow to a suffocating crawl, as you
feel your breath slipping away until finally, we have transitioned through to
breach the land of the dead.
Rozamov has always had a signature sound
and the production on this particular release is a perfect storm of low end
boomed down into oblivion and high end elevated to laser precision which
compliments their song writing style perfectly. The music is extremely
expressive and “This Mortal Road” is a collection of darkened dirges that make
the perfect soundtrack to accommodate the reminiscence of painful personal
memories and thoughts of loved ones who are no longer with us in this
dimension. The band is a tightly honed three piece unit of power and complexity
which is currently on tour in promotion of this new album, and I highly
recommend you witness their live show any time you are able.
