Möse - Halfway To Nowhere (CD)

Review
My Last Chapter
8.5/10
01.08.2009

I’d never heard of Mose before, and didn’t know what to expect except for doom (‘cause of the label behind it), and I’ve never heard Thee Plague of Gentlemen nor Neuthrone either, but they have some members in common. Honestly I can’t say I really know of any Belgian doom bands whatsoever, well except for these three now. But when coming from the great lands of Solitude Productions how can this go wrong?
It sure-as-hell doesn’t. From the very first moment, the very first time I pressed play I was in awe. The extremely powerful stoner riffing of the opening track People eat dogs in China just shreds, and when the commanding voice goes ‘it makes no sense to me’ he sends shivers down my spine. Bloody hell, this is some wicked, psychedelic shit!
There are a lot of those psychedelic vibes б la Electric Wizard going on, while a strong old school vibe reminding me of early Black Sabbath haunts the atmosphere. I can’t help but to think of both Jack Frost and The Bottle Doom Lazy Band, yet Halfway to nowhere carries with it a sort of hardcore-ish feel, and even a progressive touch at times. There’s a lot of variation and nuances thrown in, and still it comes out as a very coherent sound.
Tons of awesome riffs are on display, and it’s difficult to resist the urge to do some air-guitaring during the instrumental Glдss (as well as throughout pretty much any track). As I mentioned the opening track really kicks my ass with the heavy-as-shit riffing and strong vocals, but the same goes for The levee will break and every other track as well. The sound is quite heavy and somewhat clean; but not too clean, just enough to become utterly powerful sound-wise. But the harsh, raspy semi-clean vocals bring it down to a dirty level, crawling in filth.
Mцse (which apparently means ‘sludge’) have managed to mix psychedelic stoner with classic doom with hardcore-ish sludge, and they’ve done it extremely well. The drum patterns keep changing, adding tons of variation, and the riffing excels in groove. There are tons of moments you’ll want to shout along, however there aren’t any lyrics included (just a poster-like booklet), so it requires some listening attention to follow along. Comes strongly recommended.

Review
Brutalism
4/5
09.11.2009

A very long overdue review of a great band from Belgium and I must thank Twan from Brutalism.Com for making me re-investigate this band. I originally bought the album early this year and it kind of got put aside as I was buying so many albums around that time. After deciding to give this band a much needed re-play I was awestruck as to how good this band is and this album has winner written all over it. The band has members of other great bands from the area, namely "Thee Plague Of Gentlemen" who another band I must listen to again real soon. Mose roughly translated means Sludge and indeed this is a Doom/Sludge album all the way. Once again this is another release on the great Solitude Productions Label and while most of their bands are of the Funeral Doom/Gothic variety, Mose are a different breed all together. Imagine if Fu Manchu all of a sudden became a Doom band and mix that with the brain shattering volume drenched Blues Sludge of Ol Scratch and you will close to the sound of Mose. The extremely powerful stoner riffing of the opening track "People eat dogs in China" just slays, and when the voice comes in it sends you into some sort of Psychedelic shock. They have some vibes that sound a little like Electric Wizard but for the most part this has a hardcore-ish feel, and even a progressive rock feel at times. There is plenty of variation going on, drum beats change regularly and guitar parts sway and move at a constant rate. The main thing here though is the riffs and this album has some killers but also a couple of real duds, not to worry though as they are kept to a minimum. Tracks like "The Levee Will Break" and the instrumental "Gl%ss" have amazing riffing parts and if there was ever a Sludge band made for air-guitaring then this would be the one. The harsh, raspy vocals bring it down to the crust level but once again it is the riffing that is the main action here. Some of the riffs are so good that guitar-breaks and solos almost seem unnecessary at times. There is no filler, its all good but with bands that are this riff - orientated, you are bound to find a couple of moments that don't quite cut it but that is a minor quibble. This is a great album and things can only get better, this band has the potential to one of the best bands in the underground Sludge/Doom scene but it might take another album or two to get there. This album is real good but a couple of ordinary riffs, boring breaks, patchy solos and effects that are used when not really needed spoil tracks that could have been classed as perfection. The album has great artwork, killer production but sadly no lyric sheet which is a pity because the vocals do have a sing-along quality. This is still highly recommended.

Author: ed