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Band: Morn Guruth
Album title: Weltekel
Release date: 1 July 2013
Label: Talheim Records
Tracklisting:
01. The Darkened Empire Of Death
02. Worthless
03. Destrudo
04. Weltekel
05. Longing For The Void
06. Im Nichts
07. Insignificant
08. Leben-Wider Willen
09. My Journey Into Nothingness
10. Krankheit
11. Close To A Pure Condition
12. Perdition
13. Überwindung
Depressive black metal, huh? Out there are so many bands that call themselves as a depressive black metallers and German, formerly one-man band, now trio, Morn Guruth, are just another band in line that labeled themselves as such, although I don't find in their music that much depression as their musical basis sticks to so many times replayed "kvlt" black metal formula from the early 90s. Ferocious shrieks, aggressive and razor sharp guitars, simple but blasting drums, here and there interupted with gloomy synths, spoken vocals or acoustic parts are the things that could be found in this Morn Guruth's debut album.
Thirteen tracks on this album are a bit too much to get through in one listen if you aren't really a die-hard fan of the genre and to tell the truth I have quite a hard time to search for those shining parts in here. It's a boring listen, maybe because of its duration, but if you have enough of patience you'll find some interesting moments, like in the track "Destrudo" where aggression, nice melody and acoustic parts do the thing. Then "Longing For The Void" with its scary, this time really depressive ambiance is certainly a good effort. Also eight minutes long closing track "Überwindung" and strong "My Journey Into Nothingness" takes the listener nicely through its suffocating atmosphere. Some interesting guitar work can be found also in sophisticated "Krankheit". Simple, but dreary dark synths and piano touches in claustrophobic "Perdition" are not to be missed. There's no doubt about the musical proficiency, the problem in my opinion is in too much repetitiveness and if you ask me the vocals are mostly very annoying, till the point that some tracks get ruined just because of that. Morn Guruth tried to make those songs dynamic with many mood variations, gloomy ambiances and tempo changes between fast and semi-slow paced parts, but all this doesn't make such effect as it should.
If this album would be made just of out those good parts then it could be very appealing and they should consider this in the future. Production is good, only some more depth wouldn't hurt. And yes, the cover artwork... like it was drawn by a non talented child, come on, this is one of the worst cover artworks I've ever seen. Lyrics are mostly in German language and I can't tell you much about this matter. Weltekel is an album that could appeal to many "cvltish" and depressive black metallers, because it has a lot to offer if you are forbearing enough, but at the same time it's one of those albums that will soon be forgotten. Anyway, it's a nice addition to the expansive underground black metal scene!
Review written by: T.V.
Rating: 6/10
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