‘No tak mi dej, všechno co jsi měl rád, tak mi dej, to poslední co máš, nad tvou nictou, se budu smát’ / ‘So give it to me, everything you ever loved, just give it to me, the last thing you’ve got, I will laugh at your insignificance’ (Inferno)

We live in a world that increasingly has little respect for individual autonomy, human dignity, or even survival of the planet itself.  We, and our environment, are merely resources for extraction.  And that extraction won’t end until there is nothing left to give – a process of systematic Morde (Murder) for profit.

With three members emerging from the ashes of Baestien, it comes as little surprise to find that Morde drink from a similar well creatively.  This is rhythmically heavy, fiercely metallic crust that is shrouded in a mournful melodicism, which seeps into every crevice of the monolithic onslaught.

The key is the Czech band’s deft handling of both the propulsive drive and the tension ratcheting melancholy.  They forge these two dynamics into a singular, cohesive force as the bestial, roared vocals contemplate our fate, hopeful defiance and engrained despair wrestling for supremacy.

The bleakly foreboding instrumental opener dissolves into the surging fury of Nasciturus (The Unborn Child), a momentum that the cathartic escalation of Vpřed Do Minulosti (Forward To The Past) and the darkly soaring Doba (Time) serve only to amplify.  Before, the hauntingly layered vocals and skeletal piano of Terra (Earth) sow an ominous sense of dread ahead of the crushing climax, Zbytečná Válka (Needless War).