MORDOR — Odes (review)

Demo · 1991 · Funeral Doom Metal

4/5 · 2017-09-17
siLLy puPPy

With a name like MORDOR which depicts the fiery aftermath of volcanic eruptions and steaming pits of lava rendering nothing conducive to lifeforms, it’s no wonder that well over a dozen metal bands from around the world have claimed this band name as their own. However only one of these bands can lay claims to being the first to create a hybrid of musical forms that would later be considered by many to be the first example of what would later be tagged funeral doom metal. This MORDOR arose in Lausanne, Switzerland out of the ashes of the black metal band Ärog which existed from 1987-90 never having released a single piece of their work. After a falling out with the drummer, the remaining duo of Dam Gomhory (vocals, keyboards, drum programming) and Scorh Anyroth (vocals, guitars, effects) set out to create some of the most despondent and depressive music ever recorded.

MORDOR released only two demos, ODES in 1991 and “Csejthe” in 1992 and then both together as a compilation shortly thereafter with one two-track EP emerging two years later. While these demos were released originally on cassette, like many underground artists of the era they would eventually find their way onto CD releases with bonus tracks. While emerging more out of the black metal lineage of the underground scene rather than doom metal itself, MORDOR nonetheless found the perfect marriage of the doom laden depressive atmosphere which took the snail-paced tempos to new extremes. Those attributes coupled with the droning chord distortions that reverberate to infinity and despairing tortured vocalized agony ensured only the most hopeless and nightmarish of sonicscapes to be experienced at the time.

ODES was only a demo but still clocks in just a couple minutes or so shy of the hour mark with only three tracks. The first and last clock in at over the 20 minute mark with the middle just shy of a mere ten. Although ODES qualifies as funeral doom metal with its dirge-like dissonance and nonchalant percussive march into oblivion, the elements of drone metal were hot on the heels of Earth were also on full display however the vocals are more of the black metal ilk sounding something like Mayhem on valium at times. The atmospheric dark ambience also brings Burzum’s later work to mind but these three tracks are far more devastating to the human psyche than anything Varg Vikernes could ever conjure up.

The three tracks have distinct flavors despite creeping out of the digestive pits of dismay, despair and utter mortification. “Dark Throne Of Blasphemous Evil” lives up to its title with punishing undulations of creepy dark synthesized terror in sync with lo-fi down tuned distortion doggedly eking out every possible second of sustainability. Moans of anguish beset the psyche while dirging drumbeats intersperse the dread while sonic frequencies add syrupy slow musical scales that seduce the spirits to commit vile and repugnant acts of horror. “The Great Kat Is God” shockingly begins as a Mozart piece and then finds the melody snuffed out by an oscillating synth and slightly more upbeat percussion. The vocals are more sung on this one but just as tortured and demented. This one has a slight guitar riff that recurs. “Lamentations For Corinne” provide a funeral organ riff as the marching drumbeat slowly ascends from the underworld. A guitar lick slowly ratchets up the tension, first with a melody and then into utter chaos while dungeon synth keyboard dirges emerge from nowhere and then fall into oblivion. At over 25 minutes in length the track builds up to the emotional breaking point.

Recommended for those who love to investigate the origins of the funeral doom metal sound and who crave the lo-fi errancy of the metal underground. The tortured soundscapes evoke the most inhospitable lower strata of the metal universe where melody is twisted and tortured into obsequious slaves to uphold the tyranny of torment and to crucify and extinguish all hope. The atmospheric black metal aspects are far superior to the likes of Burzum or wannabe followers. MORDOR successfully interpreted the fiery hellish landscapes of the J.R.R.. Tolkien universe into nail biting sonic reality. While funeral doom metal, atmospheric black metal and drone metal would quickly all splinter off into their own self-regulated subgenera within the greater metal universe, MORDOR display on this early demo the crossroads where they once all gathered together with the same goal of creating the utmost minimalistic melancholy that the world would most like never even hear. Scary stuff this one.