Opus Morte III

Deathmoor is another band from the scene of Stavropol of Russia, they consist of four members and were formed in 1999. Although they exist in Black Metal over ten years, mainly after 2008 they became more active, at least concerning releasing their material. Up to today they have released one demo, one EP, one split and three full length albums. “Opus Morte III” is the band’s third album which was released the summer of 2012 and it contains six compositions of thirty eight minutes of duration. In this album we find harsh, slow Black Metal which combines some elements of the Scandinavian sound, mainly the harsh sound and the hatred, and elements from slow, depressive Black Metal.

The sound that comes out is quite dark, depressive and it is based in the atmosphere that the guitars create. The riffs are slow up to mid tempo, dark, other times so as to torture the listener and other times so as to hypnotize them. In the entire album only in two tracks we will find faster rhythms, heavier riffs that they reveal their Scandinavian influences. The tracks’ structure is quite good, apart from one – two parts where the structures combined with the torturing riffs they become quite boring. The guitars are distorted with a very weird but nice sound, they deliver the riffs perfectly. The bass is hardly audible while the drums have interesting lines and they are played with much passion. Finally, the vocals are awesome. Mostly, they are harsh Black Metal vocals, full of hatred, despair, madness and violence, while in many parts of the tracks they become clean vocals which remind psalmody, they make the depressing atmosphere even heavier.

The production creates a harsh, crude and bassy sound which fits much to the music and the feelings that it creates. The mix is a little better than an average mix as the drums are quite louder while the bass is hardly audible, nevertheless the sound that comes out is quite massive. The lyrics are contained in the cd but they are written in Russian and I don’t know what they are about.

The torturing melodies of this album, surely, can’t be listened by everyone easily. Deathmoor have done a very good job and I think that generally the recent material from the scene of Stavropol that I listened to, has made a very good impression. Maybe you have to start searching the scene of Stavropol a little more. You will discover good releases and good bands. Concerning the album of Deathmoor, it deserves your attention.