Der Schein des schwärzesten Schnees

Moloch is a one man band from Ukraine and they exist since 2002. Since 2004 when their first demo was released until now apart from the ten (!!!) full length albums, they have released many demos, split and EPs. Just as you will do so did I wandered how it is possible for a band and even more for a band which consists of one member, to be so creative… I listened to their music and I understood why. Let’s take it from the beginning. “Der Schein des schwärzesten Schnees” is the ninth album of Moloch that although it had been recorded since 2009, it finally was released in 2011 and it consists of eleven compositions of depressive Black Metal/ambient.

The tracks are mainly slow to mid tempo. The riffs don’t have any structure, they reminiscent of drone style, they are monotonous, repetitive, boring and some times out of tempo. The guitars are so distorted and so loud that they become annoying. The drums, which in this album aren’t drum machine, just keep the rhythm without playing an important role in the tracks. Pretty good job has been done to the keyboards so that I can say that when there are no guitars, they create a very good atmosphere. Also heavy is the usage of samples of rain and other nature’s sounds but without adding anything to the compositions. The vocals vary depending on the track’s part, from harsh, desperate shrieks to spoken words. The vocals are expressive and in many parts can pass to the listener the musician’s sentiment. However the vocals and the keyboards alone can’t save the album. The production is clean but keeps the raw feeling of the compositions. The mix, excluding the annoying guitars which are much louder than they should be, is good. The lyrics, although the titles of the tracks are in German, are written in Ukrainian so I don’t understand about what they are.

As I wrote above the very few good elements can’t save the album alone. If the rest of this band’s albums are so as this one I really can understand how it is possible for Moloch to be so “creative”. That thing that I can’t understand is how it is possible to exist labels which release such albums. As a Black Metal fan, I didn’t like “Der Schein des schwärzesten Schnees” at all. Maybe a dark ambient/drone fan would appreciate it more since the Black elements are very few. My advice is even not to get in trouble listening to it.