MOSS - Horrible Night (2013)

Genre: Doom Metal

Label: Rise Above Records

Rating: 8.5/10

Moss have always been known for their ultra, immeasurably slow style of extreme doom, and it worked very well. Sub Templum is still a favourite record of mine, and that one is pretty much slow as fuck. Horrible Night was a big change for Moss, and I don't think many people saw it coming, at least in the way it manifested itself in the end, despite the Tombs of the Blind Drugged EP hinting at the change, with somewhat faster-paced songs (for Moss anyway) with groove to them. Horrible Night continues that, and even features clean singing now. There are a few screams, but for the most part, its fairly "typical" doom vocals. The great part is that even though this album is "faster" than previous Moss-releases, it's still very slow; think slower than, say, Thou or Warning. The album is also quite dark in theme and in sound. It is heavily marijuana-influenced, detectable only in the groove established in the title track and maybe a few other places. Some know-nothings have claimed that Moss are trying to jump on the stoner-doom bandwagon... yet all it takes is one careful listen to Horrible Night to discern that that is pure bullshit (it sounds nothing like stoner doom, the vocals aren't layered, it's still very slow, etc.), most likely stirred up by people who are bitter that their beloved Moss has changed, and are now more "accessible" due to the clean vocals and the love of marijuana (they're really not that accessible even still, because of how slow they are, and they've never made a secret of their mind-altering substance use). I, for one, am happy to follow Moss wherever they go. This is also Moss's first release which was recorded all analogue. I own it on purple vinyl, the die-hard edition. It is pure, analogue doom bliss, and I will elucidate upon this point now.

The only trace of organ on this album is the very intro to the sort-of-title track, "Horrible Nights." They play in A, use no bass guitar, and just still rip your head off with low-end, courtesy of a Peavey 5150. The intro riff is imminently dark. The riff it changes to... has a groove that will get you slowly banging your head and rocking out. The vocals fit perfectly. "The book of Eibon stares at me/Both its eyes ablaze/These awful nights, horrible nights/They're driving me insane" goes the end of the first verse. I could listen to this song on repeat for ages, I love singing along to it in the car. I hope it does not need saying, but you should listen to this on a high-fidelity sound system. The bridge is typical Moss fashion, slow, dark, and brooding. Screamed vocals kick in through, it sounds like, a megaphone; if it's not through a megaphone, they did a great job of making it sound distant and amplified. After the long, plodding bridge, it kicks back into the intro riff again, and then another verse, which essentially revisits the last two verses, and that plays out until the near end.

"The Bleeding Years," track two, has a murky, but infectious, groove to it. The vocals sound despairing. My favourite lines read "My mind pulls me into the chasm/And caught me within it's waiting claws." I love how Moss can take what is seemingly so little and turn it into so much gold. The end of this track features Olly coughing...from a bongrip, perhaps? Track three is a dark, turgid (in all the right ways) number called "Dark Lady." I'm not sure whether this is inspired by a relationship gone pear-shaped, or if its about a succubus; my instinct leads me to believe the former, and if so that makes the lyrics all the better, for example, the last verse: "Evil woman tried to play your games on me/The web of deceit I cannot believe/Insanity forever plagues my mind/A disease from Satan's bride." "Dreams from the Depths" is an instrumental interlude which starts with a reverbed acoustic guitar that leads to synth noises. It's a rather quiet interlude (as I suppose those go).

Song five, "The Coral of Chaos," seems to be a direct reference to Lovecraft, specifically The Call of Cthulhu. It's got a dark groove all its own, though this groove is the opposite of fast. The final track, "I Saw Them That Night," is based off of a nightmare, if I remember correctly, that Olly had. Don't hold me to that, I read that interview once and lost it. At any rate, it's droney, again as dark as the rest of the album, and the lyrics are killer. The droning electric guitar track ends at the 2:00 mark fairly sharply. This track has some of the best vocals on the album. The riff and the vocals are both very addictive, and yet make you, the listener, feel like you're walking to your death. At any rate, the song ends with ample feedback and droning.

I am of the opinion that Horrible Night was a massively great achievement and accomplishment on the part of Moss. I absolutely can't wait to see what comes next. They have freed themselves from the grasp of Rise Above, and are writing/recording at the moment. If I recall correctly, they are going to self-release a 7" on black vinyl, "no die-hard editions" for you to waste a week's pay on, according to Olly from a recent interview. I'm actually glad for this. I love coloured vinyl and patches and posters, but I hate having to shell out the big bucks for it. I also believe that Olly has said they have another full-length planned for release later this year/earlier next year. Phenomenal news. Incidentally, if you wish to purchase this album, for a digital copy, you can go to their bandcamp; Rise Above still has it on multiple colours of vinyl, including some of the die-hards left (although Olly implored fans not to give Rise Above their money), and of course on CD; for Americans/Canadians, Metal Blade distributes Moss's releases for the Americas, and has both Horrible Night and Tombs of the Blind Drugged on CD. I can strongly recommend both.