Album Review: Moor – Heavy Heart Blood (Believe Digital)

German doom metal band Moor will release their debut full-length album, ‘Heavy Heart’, via Believe Digital on May 17th, 2023.

An album permeated with real life sorrow, as just after recording the album two band members were diagnosed with cancer and tragically in 2022, co-founder and bassist Christian Smukal lost his battle, tearing a huge gap in the band’s structure. Heavy Heart is his farewell letter, his mournful legacy.

Pain doesn’t get any more real, in sonic form, than this. Moor have been through so much and that this album even exists is testament to their love and dedication. Not just to the music, but their fallen brother too.

Filled with heart-wrenching atmosphere, showcasing a graceful beauty, while also being immensely heavy and disgustingly doomy. Heavy Heart is one of the most exhausting releases you will hear this year. Not because it is super-long or features tons of tracks. It’s because of the story, the tone, the very real suffering that has occurred, and the shrouds of darkness that surround every moment.

It’s a bit of a struggle to convey the words needed to explain the impact Heavy Heart has. Yes, it is the undiluted sound of misery, as only the most veracious of doom can be. Yet, it is thoughtful, measured, and beautiful. It is an album that captures the sense of pain and loss, and even if you’ve not been through what Moor have, you can understand and relate.

Alongside that is the immense talent of Moor to express this in a variety of doom-infused ways. Be it with a cacophony of instrumentation and roaring vocals, molasses-covered tempo switches, booming grandeur, thick and swirling dark atmosphere, and momentary rays of sunshine to remind the listener that there is hope.

As far as debut albums go, especially in the doom genre, Moor have knocked it out of the park with Heavy Heart. From beginning to end, it enriches, hypnotises, and satisfies. Dark times come and dark times go, the memory of Christian Smukal will live on through Heavy Heart and everyone who experiences its sensations.

Moor – Heavy Heart Track Listing:

1. Heavy Heart
2. Pale Grey Snow
3. Tears From Acrid Smoke
4. Void
5. Restless
6. Under Your Wings
7. Breath Like Nails

Links

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