МОЛАТ — В пламени рассвета (review)

Album · 2006 · Heavy Metal

3/5 · 2024-02-20
siLLy puPPy

Молат (MOLAT) is a white power band from Orsha, Belarus that started off as the Pagan black metal band Araxia from 1998-2003 and then changed everything around completely. The band name means ‘HAMMER’ in the Belarusian language and the band has been criticized worldwide for its philosophies on white supremacy and social nationalism. It’s actually hard to believe anyone would espouse Nazi affiliations in Belarus given that this nation was one of the most decimated by the Nazi regime during the atrocities of WW2 but what the fuck, it’s a strange world out there.

As MOLAT the band has released several albums since 2006 beginning with this debut В пламени рассвета (In the Flames of Dawn). The band is also quite popular in not only Belarus but plays often in Russia and Poland. The lineup is a bit unclear due to many different sources citing different band members at various stages in the band’s history however it sounds like there are two guitarists, a bassist, drummer and vocalist. This debut features ten tracks and just misses the 45-minute playing time. The lyrics alternate between Russian and Belarusian.

While the band’s philosophies are nothing new, the music is rather different. While the following album’s drift more into folk metal based on traditional Belarusian and Slavic folk styles, В пламени рассвета is a mix of classic 80s heavy metal, speed metal and thrashy punk rock. While the melodies are clearly out of the 80s classic metal playbook, the choppy strumming and immediacy are more like a crossover thrash band that mixes elements of metal with punk. The mix of the melodic and the no nonsense political bantering makes for a compelling listen at least on the music side of things.

This was a bizarre transition point between Araxia and MOLAT when some of the band members took a leave of absence before rejoining from the debut so this album isn’t really representative of any of either band’s overall output. Not much to say about this. It’s obviously an album that is heavily focused on the lyrics and espousing certain philosophical idealism so if you don’t speak Russian or Belarusian then you won’t understand single thing. Musically it’s a very basic type of punk x heavy metal hybrid which is pleasant enough but falls more on the punk side of things overall however the melodic metal touches do make it more dynamic.

Personally i don’t care about subject matter so i can ignore the themes however the music isn’t anything to get overly excited about as it seems to be secondary in its significance. Ukraine’s Nokturnal Mortem is another one of these white power bands but at least they have talent and i love their albums despite their involvement in the Nazi crap. This album is totally listenable. I do love the singer’s passionate emphasis on each and every syllable of every word however it’s not so great that it’s a band i would want to explore further. It’s obviously a band that cranks out fairly simple and direct musical compositions to simply wrap its message around.