Agruss – Morok

Agruss emerged seemingly out of nowhere from the dark, impenetrable Ukrainian wilderness and have taken the black metal underground by storm with their full-length debut, Morok. I was a bit skeptical at first. When some band builds up a lot of hype in the underground, I usually hate it, but when I listened to it, I was totally blown away. Never before have I seen a black metal band play music that was so majestic and beautiful but so evil and terrifying.

The production takes pride in its wall of sound. The wall of sound means nothing if it doesn't have good music to back it up. Luckily, the songwriting is thoughtful and intricate. Wondrous and flowing clean guitar sections juxtapose unholy blackened death metal assaults. Even there, the relentless blast beats and razor riffs are juxtaposed by melodic guitar and whirling solos. The black metal tremolo picking is juxtaposed by death metal chugging. The monstrous growls are juxtaposed by agonized screams. This album is a monument to musical juxtaposition, a powerful contrast between the dark and the unfathomably dark.

This album has a bit of a lo-fi aspect, but the musicians are not amateurs by any means. Every single pluck of the string, every single pound of the drum is carefully calculated to elicit a response from the audience the band most desires. The transitions between black metal and death metal playing styles don't happen at random, there is a very intricate line of logic behind it all. Most black metal bands use the lo-fi principle merely out of tradition without any thought as to why the production is this way. Agruss, on the other hand, uses the lo-fi principle to instill a feeling of indelible terror into the audience.

Morok is the perfect marriage of Ukraine's black metal scene and its death metal scene. With these two styles combined, Agruss created an aural monster that will forever haunt my dreams. This album is an hour's worth of bleak, post-apocalyptic torment borne from the darkest depths of the human imagination, and to be honest, I love every second of it. Best of all, this album is just the first part of a trilogy. You're gonna get your ass kicked for years to come.