siLLy puPPy
MORDOR of course is the name of the evil empire that was the arch-nemesis of Middle Earth in the Tolkien novels “Lord of the Rings” but as it turns out it makes a mighty fine band name since about a half dozen bands have used it. This particular MORDOR was a thrash metal band from Santander, Spain and formed in 1991 by José Alonso (bass), Javi Prieto (guitars) and Victor Franquelo. After adding a couple more musicians with Rafa Martín (guitars) and Txente on vocals, the band released the demo “Sin Lechuga” before getting to this debut album HOGAR DULCE HOGAR (Home Sweet Home) which came out in 1994.
Now i have to say, this album perhaps qualifies as sporting one of the worst album covers in all of metal history! I get where the band was going with this as a long time biologist / ecologist / environmentalist with the depiction of the Earth as a toilet floating in space next to a toilet paper moon amongst our untainted neighboring planets symbolizing how humanity has trashed this beautiful world and the shame some of us feel for having participated in it. However, this artwork is absolutely hilarious as it is so juvenile and ridiculous that it doesn’t invite a serious desire to explore the music within. I should’ve gone with that first imporession. LOL.
Anyways, MORDOR released this album and then the vocalist left so the band continued playing without releasing any albums until the 1997 “¿Evolución?... “ when Txente decided to rejoin the band. So what was so important with this guy that they couldn’t replace him? I have no Earthly idea! MORDOR was pretty much limited to their region of northern Spain and sort of fizzled out of existence after the 90s without ever officially breaking up. All in all MORDOR released two demos, two albums, one compilation and a video.
This is fairly generic thrash metal played here with lyrics in Spanish. Some tracks like “Jodiendo Funky” (Fucking Funky) is as the title suggests a funk metal track! Sort of in the vein of the Red Hot Chili Peppers only in Spanish. The album shifts gears even more with the piano intro on “Sólo Es Amor” and then back to thrash metal. The thrash parts are played competently but the singer sounds more like an amateur death metal vocalist and the drums are rather weak as well with basic beats more akin to sludge metal. For a thrash metal band MORDOR doesn’t really hit the marks on any front and the overall sound of the album is really weak considering the band named themselves after the evil forces that almost conquered Middle Earth.
Added to the rather mediocre production and uninspiring thrash metal, the album is way too long with thirteen tracks that hit the 50 minute mark. Granted this was only the band’s debut album but by 1994 the thrash metal scene had already peaked and crafted some veritable masterpieces of the genre and this sounds like something that came out of the 1985 timeline. This is pretty much one to miss and although not a total waste of time, i certainly wouldn’t mind it if someone flushed it down the ole crapper depicted on the album cover art. This is perhaps the first example i’ve heard of thrash metal with Spanish lyrics but the novelty quickly wears off.