Mgla : "Exercises In Futility"

Mgla or ...fog, is a side project from members of Kreigsmachine, in the studio it is birthed by a due who then add session players for live performances. The step closer towards a much more melodic direction than their previous album which put them on the map"Hearts Toward None". Just from the opener it seems this change has sacrificed a little of what made their sound so interesting on "Hearts Towards None" and they blend in with the rest of the black metal crowd.But that is just my first impression we shall see where the rest of the album goes from here.

The songs on this album are simply labelled as parts rather than given titles. The melodic layering of the guitar is cool, but the overall guitar tone seems to have changed, their is a more sonic layer of treble over it rather than being as dark and low as what they offered before. I tried pressing my ear buds deeper into my ears to see if this was the issue , but it seems to be more of a production choice. The third part has a darker pulse that churns with more sonic depth and is the first song that really grabs me.The fourth part the chords are allowed to ring out with even more melody almost to the point of sounding like "Hell's Bells " being played faster. More concise and compact at times it reminds me of Nachtmystium. The fifth part open with a cold lurking melody that finds the band slowing down to create a more deliberate mood. It churns with a darkness not yet found on this album, so it was a welcome return to form. I like my black metal writhing with evil and while I know nothing of this band's philosophies, the music conveys this well enough for me.

The sixth and final part of the album opens with clean guitar. Once it goes into the blasting section, I had to listen to the song twice to see if there was actually any elements to separate them from every other blasting black metal band. It goes into the triumphant half time charge that Watain inherited from Dissection. The moments that this album gets right are chilling and allow them to stand out from their peers in the genre, then there are blast beats which are handled just like any black metal band would and I think these guys have more in them than falling in with the herd, still I'll give this album a 8.5, it won't get the repeated listens from me that their previous album did , but they still excel at what they do.


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