MORGUL BLADE - HEAVY METAL WRAITHS

MORGUL BLADE - HEAVY METAL WRAITHS




Sophomore effort from Philly foursome, although there's been a couple of online, pre-release singles/videos, and both "Spider God" and "Beneath The Black Sails" have been available since a cassette-only issuance, a year ago (also through a Bandcamp download).

Classy guitar intro, to go along with the first rate cover art (t-shirt design!), then Lord Klauf unleashes his sinister, phlegm dripping (albeit discernible) vocals. "Eagle Strike", much like the local football team that inspired it, only gets aggressive in the final quarter. The unique mix of blackened doom meets traditional metal continues with mid-tempo pounding of the aforementioned pirate anthem, "Beneath The Black Sails". For the first time, dual vocal tracks are utilized, one a normal, almost spoken word, the other Klauf's trademark. At 6:13, it is not only the longest track of the current ten, but two to three times longer than its surroundings. A trio of cuts each fail to eclipse 100 seconds.

The galloping title track is built around twin guitars, one in each ear, on headphones. The lyrics are delivered in gruff throat, but not as beastly as its predecessors. There's a sneaky melodic structure running throughout it. "Frostwyrm Cavalry" launches like full-bore black metal, but decelerates to an almost militaristic march, focused on the drums. Definitely different from anything else aired, thus far: "One by one, they fell, to the Frostwyrm cavalry." Ends with flanging guitar notes.