MGLA – Discography [320 kbps]
The third part on the Crushing the Holy Trinity compilation, Holy Spirit, increases the dosage of anger and blasphemy, and brings more modern elements into the play after the relatively traditional Son, especially after Mgla has delivered its payload of four tracks and Exordium gets it turn. Still, the deviations from traditional black metal are nothing to worry about, old times are not forgotten on Holy Spirit, either.
Mgla is the only non-finnish band on the whole Crushing the Holy Trinity, but the band's black metal fits the compilation extremely well. Faster, rawer and angrier than any of the earlier bands on the compilation, Mgla has a mildly more modern raw production than the bands on Father or Son, but still keeps things much more old-schoolish than Exordium after it. Mgla's metal is quite high-tempo, warlike pure black metal, and quite angry, or perhaps more accurately, disillusioned and bad-tempered. Orthodox black metal riffing saturates the four tracks, and the entirety is very concise, monolithic, and would work extremely well as a separate EP.
Mgla's spot on the three discs is almost fitting. Almost. While Father holds the two bands with more atmospheric and unorthodox black metal, and Son could almost be seen as a tribute to the old days, Holy Spirit is the fast, angry, raw, and perhaps a tad more modern than the other two, especially as far as Exordium's contribution goes. Musta Surma, with its faithful attention to old-school black metal, first gives way to Clandestine Blaze's slightly fractured tradition, and Mgla is the bridge between Clandestine Blaze's music and Exordium's modern interpretation of the same themes.
The final band, Exordium, has the most modern, and perhaps the most middle-of-the-road output on the whole Crushing the Holy Trinity. Unfortunately, it's also the only band that invites the use of the word "mediocre" in the whole box. While the music is in no way bad as it is, it also lacks the defining something that would define it as a band worthy of the other's company. It simply lacks individual character, and sinks in the morass of modern run-of-the-mill black metal. The production is easily the sharpest on the three discs, and the slight fuzz on the guitar tone is obviously more intentional seasoning than an essential ingredient. Tempos vary, riffs come and go, but the fundamental ideas are either lacking or lackluster. The inclusion of Exordium on the compilation seems as an afterthought, or at least a less than well considered idea. Especially the final track, "Unevangel", is an extended, repetitive and frankly boring piece of work in its stretched slowness.
Holy Spirit ends up as the only part that lacks balance or a theme on Crushing the Holy Trinity. Mgla is a perfect participant on the box, and while Exordium definitely has potential, it has no musical charcteristics that connect it in any way to Mgla or any of the other bands. If Mgla works as a more furious continuation of the music and bands on Son, Exordium is disconnected from the rest, and remains alone even if Father's atmospheric and emotional bands are taken into account. Thus, despite Mgla's convincing and dedicated contribution, and admirable attempt at bridging the gap, Holy Spirit is the part worth the lowest rating.
So what shall be the final ruling on this Metal Archives rules defying excercise at expanding splits beyong the breaking point? From the atmospheric and tradition-abandoning novelty of Father, through Son's faithful old-school spirit, to Holy Spirit's imbalance, the compilation stretches a long way, and somehow Exordium manages to be the only real miss among the six bands. The order of preference between the first two discs is, of course, a matter of taste, and there certainly are those who would reverse the ruling on the final pair of bands, but to an older metal fans, Musta Surma, Clandestine Blaze and Mgla, with the possible addition of Stabat Mater, are the real treasures here. Deathspell Omega has its own following, and there surely are those to whom DsO's single track is the nugget of gold. In other words, it might be difficult to find a black metal connoisseur with a taste so broad that none of the bands would seem redundant to him.
On the other hand, the compilation has an internal logic that only stubles a bit on Holy Spirit. It has an obvious order, a progression, and certainly goes above the sum of its parts. It is worth its price, as long as you can avoid being completely ripped off by a zit-faced bugger on eBay. And maybe, to an ideologically charged person, it might be a statement, a thesis and a manifesto. But that must be judged by someone actually interested in that state of mind.
As a compilation, Crushing the Holy Trinity can definitely be recomended.
Mgla Official Website
2005 Crushing The Holy Trinity (Holy Spirit) (Split)
2006 Presence EP
2006 Mdłości EP
2007 Further Down The Nest EP
2008 Groza Full-Length
2012 With Hearts Toward None Full-Length
To prerecord: this is one of the strongest black metal 7” ever. Let’s face the facts:
Polish MGLA are among the most promising black metal acts today. Their simple formula: balance. Balance between a true underground sound and a professional production, between the genre defining primitivity of mid-90ies Darkthrone and brilliantly executed songwriting, between primitive and highly aesthetic artwork, lyric-wise between intellectual demand and well common misanthropy.
This 7” has it all! If someone I care for would ask me what black metal basically is I would turn on both tracks of “Mdłości”. Supreme songwriting and haunting melodies, grim vokills, raspy but massive production. Musicianship is absolutely proper and serves the purpose.
My favourite track is Mdłości I because of its great main theme/riff. What a catchy tune, a true artistic experience! Nevertheless Mdłości II isn’t much worse. A bit repetitive for those who need complex song structures. I do not. To play a good riff long enough is much more better than to throw in a dozen of riffs into a 4 min. song.
It’s so good to see that polish black metal does not only consist of Darken, Capricornus & co and the typical early-Emperor-worshipping keyboard-black-metal – which I like, no doubt! For Poland this is a different approach to black metal. Musick-wise and when it comes to the lyrics. Just to make you curious: its not about pagan polish fatherland and swords but in the direction of metaphysical nihilism. Good lyrics btw. High standard!
Mgla is the only non-finnish band on the whole Crushing the Holy Trinity, but the band's black metal fits the compilation extremely well. Faster, rawer and angrier than any of the earlier bands on the compilation, Mgla has a mildly more modern raw production than the bands on Father or Son, but still keeps things much more old-schoolish than Exordium after it. Mgla's metal is quite high-tempo, warlike pure black metal, and quite angry, or perhaps more accurately, disillusioned and bad-tempered. Orthodox black metal riffing saturates the four tracks, and the entirety is very concise, monolithic, and would work extremely well as a separate EP.
Mgla's spot on the three discs is almost fitting. Almost. While Father holds the two bands with more atmospheric and unorthodox black metal, and Son could almost be seen as a tribute to the old days, Holy Spirit is the fast, angry, raw, and perhaps a tad more modern than the other two, especially as far as Exordium's contribution goes. Musta Surma, with its faithful attention to old-school black metal, first gives way to Clandestine Blaze's slightly fractured tradition, and Mgla is the bridge between Clandestine Blaze's music and Exordium's modern interpretation of the same themes.
The final band, Exordium, has the most modern, and perhaps the most middle-of-the-road output on the whole Crushing the Holy Trinity. Unfortunately, it's also the only band that invites the use of the word "mediocre" in the whole box. While the music is in no way bad as it is, it also lacks the defining something that would define it as a band worthy of the other's company. It simply lacks individual character, and sinks in the morass of modern run-of-the-mill black metal. The production is easily the sharpest on the three discs, and the slight fuzz on the guitar tone is obviously more intentional seasoning than an essential ingredient. Tempos vary, riffs come and go, but the fundamental ideas are either lacking or lackluster. The inclusion of Exordium on the compilation seems as an afterthought, or at least a less than well considered idea. Especially the final track, "Unevangel", is an extended, repetitive and frankly boring piece of work in its stretched slowness.
Holy Spirit ends up as the only part that lacks balance or a theme on Crushing the Holy Trinity. Mgla is a perfect participant on the box, and while Exordium definitely has potential, it has no musical charcteristics that connect it in any way to Mgla or any of the other bands. If Mgla works as a more furious continuation of the music and bands on Son, Exordium is disconnected from the rest, and remains alone even if Father's atmospheric and emotional bands are taken into account. Thus, despite Mgla's convincing and dedicated contribution, and admirable attempt at bridging the gap, Holy Spirit is the part worth the lowest rating.
So what shall be the final ruling on this Metal Archives rules defying excercise at expanding splits beyong the breaking point? From the atmospheric and tradition-abandoning novelty of Father, through Son's faithful old-school spirit, to Holy Spirit's imbalance, the compilation stretches a long way, and somehow Exordium manages to be the only real miss among the six bands. The order of preference between the first two discs is, of course, a matter of taste, and there certainly are those who would reverse the ruling on the final pair of bands, but to an older metal fans, Musta Surma, Clandestine Blaze and Mgla, with the possible addition of Stabat Mater, are the real treasures here. Deathspell Omega has its own following, and there surely are those to whom DsO's single track is the nugget of gold. In other words, it might be difficult to find a black metal connoisseur with a taste so broad that none of the bands would seem redundant to him.
On the other hand, the compilation has an internal logic that only stubles a bit on Holy Spirit. It has an obvious order, a progression, and certainly goes above the sum of its parts. It is worth its price, as long as you can avoid being completely ripped off by a zit-faced bugger on eBay. And maybe, to an ideologically charged person, it might be a statement, a thesis and a manifesto. But that must be judged by someone actually interested in that state of mind.
As a compilation, Crushing the Holy Trinity can definitely be recomended.
Mgla Official Website
2005 Crushing The Holy Trinity (Holy Spirit) (Split)
2006 Presence EP
2006 Mdłości EP
2007 Further Down The Nest EP
2008 Groza Full-Length
2012 With Hearts Toward None Full-Length
To prerecord: this is one of the strongest black metal 7” ever. Let’s face the facts:
Polish MGLA are among the most promising black metal acts today. Their simple formula: balance. Balance between a true underground sound and a professional production, between the genre defining primitivity of mid-90ies Darkthrone and brilliantly executed songwriting, between primitive and highly aesthetic artwork, lyric-wise between intellectual demand and well common misanthropy.
This 7” has it all! If someone I care for would ask me what black metal basically is I would turn on both tracks of “Mdłości”. Supreme songwriting and haunting melodies, grim vokills, raspy but massive production. Musicianship is absolutely proper and serves the purpose.
My favourite track is Mdłości I because of its great main theme/riff. What a catchy tune, a true artistic experience! Nevertheless Mdłości II isn’t much worse. A bit repetitive for those who need complex song structures. I do not. To play a good riff long enough is much more better than to throw in a dozen of riffs into a 4 min. song.
It’s so good to see that polish black metal does not only consist of Darken, Capricornus & co and the typical early-Emperor-worshipping keyboard-black-metal – which I like, no doubt! For Poland this is a different approach to black metal. Musick-wise and when it comes to the lyrics. Just to make you curious: its not about pagan polish fatherland and swords but in the direction of metaphysical nihilism. Good lyrics btw. High standard!
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