1557 - Rites of Nullification

After the huge transformation and in my opinion evolution that they had by going from their first album to their second one, I was very curious to listen to their third full length work. I refer to the Swedish Mephorash who after giving us some evidence about what was going to follow with a split album and an EP, they return three years after their second album, in September of 2015 to present us their third full length effort. The album is called “1557 – Rites of Nullification” and it contains four compositions of overall duration of forty two minutes. Already by the cover we can understand that the transformation of the band has moved farther, if it is not completed yet. The music that Mephorash are now playing, is oriented to dark, occult Black Metal.

So here, the speed has been lowered to medium or slow speed with a lot of torturing Doom references. The fast parts are few but very intense as the destructive drums are combined with the disharmonic melodies and they offer very penetrating feelings to the listener. The majority of the riffs are atmospheric, melodic, dark, and rhythmic while the dark melody is one of their main characteristics. There is quite a lot of variety regarding their technic but also regarding their structure depending on the part and the feeling that they want to create. So we will come across atmospheric, minimalistic and dark, tremolo, disharmonic, misanthropic riffs or monotonous, claustrophobic ones. The tracks are quite long in duration (from ten to twelve minutes) but the changes into the riffs, into the sentiments and into the atmosphere as also the very interesting evolution of each of the four tracks, they are not tedious for the listener, just the opposite. Another element that makes the tracks more interesting, are also the changes into the vocals from one track to the other, as almost in every track there is a guest vocalist from bands like Acherontas, Embrace of Thorns, Hetroertzen and others.

As also into their previous releases, the musicians that participate into this band, are showing that they know well how to play their instruments. The guitars depending on the part, they become other times more harsh and violent, other times more solid and heavy and other times atmospheric and clean. Their style of playing is full of feelings and absolutely accurate. The bass is quite distinctive and you can’t distinguish its lines. However it fills the sound perfectly. The drums are also played into a high level of quality. Their lines are very powerful while with the massive passages, the violent outbursts and the technical turnings they make the compositions even more interesting. The already high level of the album, is going higher by the awesome vocals. The different vocalists deliver the tracks in a different way, giving different approaches and feelings into the tracks. All of them deliver the tracks with much passion and high expressing ability. The production is bass, dark but clean and atmospheric. The mixture is also very good, adding to the sound a solid feeling like the listener is into a massive, nightly fog. The lyrics are written in English and they are contained into the cd encrypted by the band while they speak about occultism and magic.

Even if someone does not like the music of Mephorash, he cannot but recognize the huge evolution that the band has done through the five years of their existence. “1557 – Rites of Nullification” is an indisputable proof that a band with hard work and surely with talent, it can be improved and evolve constantly, offering to the listeners something better with each new release. The third effort of Mephorash for sure will be appreciated by the fans of occult Black Metal but also by those who are searching something atmospheric and dark. Buy it.