Gloria Mortis

Polish black metallers come again 6 years after their debut album with the polished looks of Gloria Mortis, which I was encouraged to check out after a glance at the distinctive cover art. A curious feature of this release can be found in the 3 brief numbered tracks throughout the listen, as they do not contain music but very serious spoken word (in Polish, I believe) with some minimal effects as backing. The band feel serious over the 9 songs too, aiming for a punishing blackened sound that ropes in certain particular features from other genres from time to time. I’m not convinced everything works perfectly, but it proves an interesting listen for 44 minutes.

The intensity of the recording seems fitting for black metal, pushing roared vocals and some harsher growls up with big guitars that have none of the cut typical to the Scandinavian black style and instead overpower through size and volume. I’d wager that the bass does a lot of work on this point, while the drums take a slightly backwards position under the noise. Everything sounds clear yet chaotic, and that’s how the other influences seem to have been used too, because Chimera combine intense modern metal ideas that would be instantly discarded in true black metal circles. For instance, a metalcore basis to some of the drum patterns comes up as early as the middle of ‘Dunkelheit’, death metal-tinged rhythmic attacks remind me a little of Gojira in ‘Madness’, and ‘The Bable Tower’ breaks down into a massive groove death riff that could have been written in collaboration between Lamb Of God and Devildriver.

Thus, Gloria Mortis changes direction quite frequently and leaves no lasting feeling of coldness despite the stern face shown through more typical black sections in the emotive ‘Dziki Sęp’ and ‘Nieistniejąc’. These could be associated with some Swedish artists like Watain, though on the whole Chimera approach extremity with a mainstream attitude, and that will shine through for many old-school black metal fans. For my part, I’m not attached to any notion of purity in the genre, so my complaint is of a different nature, that the production maxes out too many levels most of the time and leaves the experience ultimately without lasting impact. Dynamically, the songs shift between slow and fast and contain some quieter moments too, yet by applying such a lot of noise from every instrument and amplifying that in the bold sonic choices, the release loses the ability to differentiate between energy and volume, reducing the effectiveness of the songwriting. Even the lead guitar moments, while impressive, seem played more for surprise value than as an integral part of their song’s movement.

Probably the slim border between authentic and disingenuous as well as between passionate and energetic will be the deciding factor regarding individual judgement of this album’s quality. I can’t help but admire the creative use of different generic components to make up fairly cohesive songs on Gloria Mortis, yet I also feel that the band’s approach to incorporation may need more nuance at a sonic level. Besides, the mood seems confused as a result of the different bits and pieces, especially the interludes, which are unfortunately necessary as a break from the wall of noise. Thus, for many complicated reasons, Chimera’s second album may prove very divisive.