Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Post-Black: a definitive work of indefinability, November 12, 2006
I'm not cut out for writing reviews, but I'm compelled to champion such an original work lacking the attention paid to so many undeserving heaps of sonic manure.
Mort further progresses the sound found on The Work Which Transforms God, taking their warped brand of post-black metal to mind-altering extremes. It's their most symbiotic, flowing work thus far, melding their metal & ambience into one contiuous whole, rather than more divisive tracks.
Blut Aus Nord is the rare black metal band that explores their industrial/ambient edge to its full potential. If you find yourself intrigued by the industrial edge of the recent works of Satyricon & Mayhem but find their overall music too pedestrial & conventional, Blut Aus Nord provides the perfect post-Blackness to dive into.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
13th on my 2006 list, March 15, 2007
(complete title: Metamorphosis of Realistic Theories)
"New functionalism" was an avant-garde filmmaking movement in 1920's Germany, connected to the infamous and minimalist Bauhaus design movement, and devoted to non-narrative, lyrical, and abstract concepts. What a "New Functionalist" filmmaker would do, as I understand it, is take pictures frame by frame, light, photograph and map them in different mathematical patterns, thus creating visual "themes" which could be repeated, run forward or in reverse, mixed and matched with other thematic elements, sometimes randomly, but most of the time arranged in odd mathematical sequences that would skip, repeat and leap over one another.
Now take that idea, switch the visuals to sounds, and then apply it to black metal and you have Blut Aus Nord's "MoRT. ". Anyone familiar with this band already knows that they are abstract, dark and sort of ambient. In this album the abstractions are melded together as thematic elements, sometimes repeating from one track to the next. Sometimes played backwards, as well as the submerged vocal tracks. Oh yes, the "songs" on this album, in keeping with the spirit of abstract minimalism, are aptly titled "Chapter 01" Chapter 02, etc., and ending with "Chapter 08".
All of the instruments you would expect on a black metal album are present here, just not played the way you would expect. I would have to describe this as black doom industrial avant-garde. Many elements are blended here, as well as bizarre and strange samples, some of which I think I can identify, others not. Chapters 03 and 04 share a thematic element, rhythmically repeated, that sounds to me just like one of those old dot matrix Epson printers. This screechy beep is utilized almost percussively, frosting over droning keyboards and bass. Don't by any means think that MoRT is devoid of melodic substance. There is plenty of trippy, stoner-metal guitar leads interspersed with all the buzz, drone and menacing rasps and whispers.
Oh, and did I happen to mention that this album is creepy as the Lovecraftian catecombs of R'ylea? My favorite time to listen to this is on headphones, walking around downtown. Gives a whole new perspective to the rush hour grind, like looking at the world though swamp colored glasses. It makes the day a little darker, people look stranger, and I get the feeling that maybe, just maybe, Cthulu and his minion DO exist after all. Very cool.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like a bad acid trip that is worth taking over and over again...., November 18, 2006
Blut aus Nord emerges once again out of obscurity to unleash Mort upon a world of unsuspecting listeners. Well, actually, if you are familiar with this band then you should already have an idea of what to expect here -- something very bizarre and abstract in nature. Blut aus Nord have created the ultimate acid trip; an album that plays out more like a dark, murky, and decadent surrealistic "dark ambient" record than a black metal record. Indeed, Blut aus Nord have left the black metal genre behind with this release and have ventured into completely unorthodox territory. I have to say that I admire this band for progressing. Mort isn't exactly the kind of record that the usual metalheads or kvlt kiddies will take an immediate liking to, but if you are a fan of experimental music or dark ambient, then it should be right up your alley. This music is like a slow moving downward spiral into discordant insanity. Or maybe it is spiritual transcendence? I guess that is left up to the listener to decide. In any case, this album is like a car crash. It is totally captivating and bizarre in its own surrealistic, yet nightmarish beauty. And you don't necessarily have to drop acid in order to enjoy this release, I find that this record can easily enwrap you in an atmosphere while you are sitting alone in an empty room. Blut aus Nord have put out the ultimate "surrealist" black metal album. I have never heard of anything that sounds quite like this before. This is an album that completely destroys our notions and ideas of what a black metal band can be, or even what music should sound like... This is music that makes us question the reality that exists all around us. It makes us ponder and question what is really real.
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