UMUR
"Mother's Guilty Pleasure Part One" is the debut full-length studio album by Canadian, Québec based power metal act Noor. The album was independently released in December 2023. Noor are a pretty new band and there are no information that any of the four musicians in the lineup have been active in other bands prior to Noor. At least not projects which had any output.
Stylistically the music is a pretty intense, technical, and progressive type of US power metal. Noor are a relatively unconventional power metal act and the material can appear quite chaotic and anarchistic in structure. The performances are absolutely blistering and there are some killer heavy metal/power metal riffing, bass playing, and drumming on "Mother's Guilty Pleasure Part One". The leads are crazy great and lead vocalist/lead guitarist Thomas Karam is arguably a bit of a prodigy because his voice and singing are also through the roof. His delivery is commanding and powerful and he often hits notes so high it should be forbidden. His singing style is quite the intense experience and his high pitched notes are often screamed and snarled in the face of the listener with great passion and conviction. It´s all still quite melodic and epic though and for all the challenging structures and riffs, leads, and vocals, "Mother's Guilty Pleasure Part One" is overall a both memorable and an instantly rewarding listen.
Crimson Glory are often mentioned as an influence on Noor (Powermad too), but I hear a lot of other influences here too. The Brits in Biomechanical is one, but the anarchistic nature of Noor´s music sometimes also leads me thoughts toward early Mercyful Fate and the harmony guitar themes toward Iron Maiden. Noor are certainly an interesting band that´s for sure...
"Mother's Guilty Pleasure Part One" features a sound production which works, but which isn´t perfect. The guitars and the vocals are too high in the mix compared to the drums and the bass which ultimately creates an uneven soundscape and a slightly dry and sterile sound. It´s not a huge issue (although some drummers may strongly disagree) but a more bottom heavy and organic sounding production could probably have elevated Noor´s music to an even higher state.
To my ears "Mother's Guilty Pleasure Part One" is a typical self-released debut album as it lacks the firm hand of a producer to cut the fat and an engineer with recording experience to create a more balanced mix, but when that is said, "Mother's Guilty Pleasure Part One" is still quite the brilliant debut album from Noor. Noor certainly hit the ground running with this release and I can´t wait to hear what they come up with next. These guys have the potential to make a masterpiece sometime down the line. No one knows if that´ll ever happen, but all the ingredients are here to succeed. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.
