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MORDLOCH
2022 EP

Self-released (2022)
Rating: 7/10

Kolín in Czechia is the origin of this new doomy / sludgy death metal act that will no doubt appeal to those unhinged disciples of the likes of Cerebral Rot alongside nods to the classic old school sound. Mordloch consists of Kuba (vocals and guitar), Bučaj (vocals and guitar), Marek (vocals and bass) and Jenda (drums), and this EP is their debut offering.

This is an impressive seven-track release that for the most part sticks to a mid-tempo range whereby cold, grey Finnish-styled exhortations are fused with a dehydrated vocal growl, and bleak, deadly serious rhythms that cross between a Dutch vibrancy and Swedish brutality. And when the elements of speed are injected (‘Červi lidskosti’) there are numerous influences ranging from Death, Entombed, Dismember and Disma.

What I really like about this EP though is the menacing air that wafts from it. The drums hiss and thud with foreboding, the bass clambers like bony hands from a pit, and the guitar provides numerous melodies and chugging gloom. ‘Oceán krve’ has a strong, dehydrated feel to it, the track lumbering with that fleshy chug while the vocals have a strong Asphyx flavour to them.

Those seeking faster vestiges won’t be disappointed though. Often the tracks on offer lumber into a sinister gallop or pacier foaming, but for the most part you’ll be decimated by deep, chunky climes of melancholy such as with the opening cut ‘Šachta’ which just prowls with astonishing heaviness.

‘Pouta zlosti’ begins with the same sinister, gruelling gradations before the stark melody unravels, while ‘Z trosek měst’ provides further thick layers of grey doominess – the combo really in tandem with that slow, Neanderthal riffing. And that’s the formula throughout really, Mordloch constructing crushing dynamics that slowly drain the life from you.

This is not overtly swampy by design but Mordloch’s first outing is doused in enough menace and weight to drive home its message.

Neil Arnold

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