Arist:Deathmoor
Country:Russia
Type:Full-length
Release date:28/06/2008
Label:Oskorei Music
Format:CD
Limitation:None

Mors Ultima Ratio

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  • 1.
    Hell of Microcosm08:54
  • 2.
    Indifference09:51
  • 3.
    Reaper08:29
  • 4.
    Swamp07:05
  • 5.
    I'll Become the Silence08:32

The Review

Continuing the reverse journey that I started some time ago for getting to know Deathmoor from Russia completely, firstly by listening to their third and continuing to their second full length album, I finally got to listen their first album which is called “Mors Ultima Ratio” and it was released in 2008. This album contains five compositions and lasts for about forty three minutes. In this release too, we will find the well-known, claustrophobic atmosphere, the cold industrial elements and the riffs that want to influence the psychology of the listener.

The riffs in this album are not as paranoid and chaotic as the riffs that we meet into the next albums are. Here, they have an obvious structure, they are heavy and atmospheric, while in a lot of parts they become cold and melodic. Someone could say that they are a mixture of Scandinavian style Black Metal filtered through the dark ambient influences of the band – in the style of Raison d’ Etre, giving the first, somehow immature picture of what is going to follow by them. The tracks are quite big concerning their duration and their progress is slow and torturing. However the repetition of the riffs and of the same ambient melody played on keyboards again and again become tedious in a lot of parts.

The guitars are distorted and they deliver both the atmospheric, minimalistic riffs and the cleaner, melodic ones with accuracy. The instrument that plays the most important role along with the guitars, are the keyboards which create that characteristic dark and eerie atmosphere with their beautiful ambient lines. The bass is not audible but the sound ia quite deep and bass. The drums play a secondary role in the compositions, their lines are nice but they don’t have anything special. They fill the compositions and follow the rhythm perfectly but nothing more. The vocals are harsh and whispering Black Metal vocals very expressive and intense. The production is bass and clean. The mixture is absolutely balanced, projecting the guitars and keyboards, it produces a very massive sound. The lyrics here too, are in Russian and I think that the talk about loneliness, isolation as the next albums do too.

As it always happens in the first album, in here too, the music that Deathmoor present us is at an early stage, seeking the identity that they will find in the next releases. The album can offer intense emotions and a lot of beautiful parts, but it also has its weaknesses and its boring moments. The first full length work of Deathmoor helped the people to understand what was going to follow and now it is an interesting part of the history of the band for its fans but also for those who want to meet the band for the first time.