Saturday 2 March 2013

MOSS - HORRIBLE NIGHT (Cd Review)

01.Horrible Night
02.Bleeding Years
03.Dark Lady
04.Dreams From The Depths
05.Coral Of Chaos
06.I Saw Them That Night

Olly Pearson (vocals)
Dominic Finbow (Guitars)
Chris Chantler (Drums)




"In dreams I hear him calling out from the restless slumber in these mindless towers.." - 'The Coral of Chaos'

First gathered together in Southampton in the year 2000 - with the formative ambition of
being slower and heavier than the slowest, heaviest band you can think of - MOSS is known
for unleashing true audial darkness and claustrophobia upon their listeners.

The crypt-crushing, drug-crazed occult horror sound of 2005's Cthonic Rites, 2008's Sub Templum,
2009's Tombs Of The Blind Drugged 10" and the Eternal Return 12" gradually refined and redefined their suffocating underground doom with impenetrable esoteric themes, and gained them a fearsome reputation as one of the worlds foremost purveyors of what is unequivocally heavy. After 13 years, where does such a band go from there? How can they push the envelope any further than it has already been pushed? Enter 2013's Horrible Night…

"we wanted to write something that would stand up over time...no disrespect to our earlier recordings - we feel the essence and atmosphere of those is still very much with us, but they were of a time and place that we're no longer part of..."

Recorded during the summer and autumn of 2012 at Hampshire's Earth Terminal and London's
Earthworks studios, Horrible Night is the sound of MOSS emerging from its cocoon a much more savage, intelligent and all the more terrifying beast. While no longer obsessed with extremity for its own sake - with weirdly infectious riffs, eccentric vocal melodies and no song over 12 minutes - MOSS remain heavier-than-thou, broadening their horror beyond any imposed 'scene' expectations.



Kicking off with 'Horrible Nights' their mastery of the craft is evident, written back in 2010 it sets the course for the album, taking their twisting death-crawl and administering a lethal dose of addictive melody, laden with colossal riffs leaving tracks like 'The Coral of Chaos' and 'Dark Lady' to simply expand further upon this potent formula.

With just six tracks, MOSS proves more than ever why this English cult band is regarded exactly as such. While still no easy pill to swallow for the uninitiated, over its duration Horrible Night will demand complete mind control blending its heady mix of horror and the unknown with pure Doom Metal.

Although traditionally a reluctant live act, in 2013 MOSS are set to embark on their first European headline tour, as well as a return trip to Holland's Roadburn Festival, playing Jus Oborn's Electric Acid Orgy with Electric Wizard, Psychic TV and the Pretty Things.

Rating 10/10

For Fans Of : Witchsorrow, Electric Wizard, Cathedral, Serpent Venom

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