ZØRORMR : “The Monolith”

When we talk about the Polish black metal scene, we can’t help but expect the raw and nihilistic energy of the genre’s traditional representatives to be inescapably present in the records we listen to.
And yet, among its representatives, there are certain artists who choose not to adhere entirely to local traditions and move away to a certain extent from what is already set as a trend, and along the way,  they choose the corpse paint and the more distinctive sound.

This is exactly the path taken by the solo black metal project Zørormr with their fourth full-length album, “The Monolith”.
An album many years in the making, it combines everything from the project’s output to date, building on it with some improvements in sound – I honestly didn’t like a lot of things in the previous titles, whereas on this album it seems like every detail that somehow wasn’t pleasant to listen to in the past is smoothed out to near perfection. More orthodox , rather than melodic and heavy , unlike its previous representatives, “The Monolith” soars into the mind and manages to stir more than one and two positive alarm lights on my musical radar.

Starting off with a psychedelic short intro in the style of Electric Moon’s “Moon Love”, Polish black metal project ZØRORMR gradually builds up with denser and heavier melodies and rhythm – initially smooth and slow as a tempo, giving the music a particular ritualistic nuance.
Many of the orthodox black metal bands sound exactly in this all-encompassing way.  In this case Moloch –  the only member of the project, uses besides traditional black metal techniques also bestial vocals in the style of the cult names like Khold and even Swedes MARDUK and NAGLFAR, as if emerging from the dark hellish antechambers, also short melodic heavy metal solos that appear from time to time for variety to the fast tremolo and heavy atmosphere.

As their fourth full-length album, “The Monolith” definitely builds on everything ZØRORMR has done to date – the album is passionate, emotionally charged and varies in tempo and mood, most of all there is an unrelenting and unadulterated fiery energy that draws the ear throughout the album’s entire runtime. And all of this – in no way to the detriment of the production quality, quite the contrary.

Approximately fifty minutes of quality black metal with  eight tracks wandering through monolithic soundscapes, ZØRORMR’s new work is an album that you can  listen  to in one breath – easy listening and definitely not succumbing to modern trends. Old school black in the vein of  the Norwegian second wave , mixed with the characteristic nihilistic features of the Polish scene – a symbiosis that is not only interesting to follow, but fascinating as an experience.
The moment Moloch whispers or starts to fiercely conquer your hearing with its invasive energy, all resistance is unnecessary…

“The Monolith” is out today via the Via Nocturna label, and you can order your copy at the following link: https://bit.ly/3Z5mFwf. More details and full album premiere are available here: https://bit.ly/42CF4DB.