Molok – Skær Review

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Three Black metal bands in a role and all of them different from each other. That’s the diversity I’ve talking about so exhaustly and so much effort. It’s funny that the first impression when I put the album to play I always thinks that it’s one more. Then I go looking for things that make the band stand out from the others. Smetimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s not. I guess that most of the time it depends much more of me than of the band. But that’s just a thought. This time around with Molok and “Skær” it was pretty easy. From the beginning “Skær” showed different features that attracted me a lot. My fan may not know but there is a facet of Black Metal that isn’t that much known. It’s the facet of the vaudeville or theatrical. I really don’t know how it’s called but I’ve heard a few bands that play this way. In this “Skær” Molok mix all this and some experimental features. To many some songs may have added some nonsense as well as voices and effects.

I consider “Skær” to be avant garde music not only for the theatriacal features but also for the elements in the cauldron of influences. “Sovs,” for instance, is spiced by some jazz elements that give the song a special flavor. are really a band that love tha unusual and the uncanny to their musical writings as “Svin” that starts with some strange and unrelated voices mixed with some effects. The nonsense that I aforementioned. Therefore, this is the thing that attracted the most to the album. By the way, listen to the dissonant passages in the minute and half of “Pest” that create a very unique atmosphere of horror embellished by a strumming and vocals that would make your hair go gray. And then very smoothly and suddenly the music changes to a Free Jazz entity with some piano. It’s funny to think and wonder why the band added this as its sounds to be completely out of the song. I mean, there are no connections with it and the rest of the song. I guess if I were to pick a song from the album “Pest” would fatally be it. It’s the track that shows all the information and influences and the weird stuff the band wants to deliver. For the record, the grand finale.

“Skær” shows how eclectic Black Metal is these days. An album that delivers lots of burning mixes from a cauldron of diverse influences that are allowed nowadays with no efforts. The album may sound pretty weird if the fan isn’t used to this kind of Black Metal. I’m waiting for suggestions of how to label this kind of music. Seriously.

Molok “Skær” was released on April 30th via Virkelighedsfjern Records.

Track Listing:

  1. Fald
  2. Pint
  3. Svin
  4. Sovs
  5. Pest

Watch “Pest” official video here: