Helcaraxë

Founded only three years ago, the solo-project Moorgeist, created by the Russian, now relocated to Germany, artist known as M.D, is one of these unknown gems if you have a soft room for raw atmospheric black metal. M.D is, by the way, a quite active artist, as he has other several projects, being probably one of the most enjoyable ones Czarnobog.

Moorgeist released a few EPs and a split album before its debut album ‘Helcaraxé’ was released back in 2021. As you have probably guessed, the album’s title is a clear reference to Tolkien’s Silmarillion, although lyrically the project is also inspired by witchery, occultism, and similar themes. Musically speaking, Moorgeist’s music can be described as raw atmospheric black metal. The production and particularly how the guitars and vocals sound have a strong primitive touch as M.D wants to clearly differentiate from the modern and ultra-polished productions. The keys play a major role, as they sound in a quite prominent position in the mix through the whole album. The album track is a quite clear example of the aforementioned description. The guitars appear a bit buried in the production while the vocals, with the classic high-pitched screams, and the keys lead the composition. Apart from the classic black metal shrieks. M.D includes some clean and phantasmagorical voices which increase the feeling of coldness in this album. The pace is mainly mid-tempo or even slow, which helps to enhance the dark and majestic atmosphere of the song. I bet you that you will indeed find yourself wandering through the cold and lifeless realms of Helcaraxë thanks to these grandiose keys.

Keyboard loves will for sure enjoy a track like ‘Winds of Nevrast’ which is pure black medieval ambient where the mixture of synthesizers and shrieks create a pure piece of darkness. ‘Dagor Bragollach’ is another highlight of the album with another dose of majestic keys and desperate screams. The pace here is generally a bit faster with the guitars having a slightly bigger presence. Nevertheless, the synthesizers play again the main role, as their melodies will stick in your head. In ‘Silmaril’ M.D proves again that raw stuff is not incompatible with the use of clean vocals as many would think. They are used as they were another instrument to reinforce this cold and mysterious atmosphere as they appear like a distant voice, which increase the feeling of mystery and coldness of the album. The melodies are once again absolutely great and epic, which is for me the most honest tribute to the greatness of Middle Earth.

‘Helcaraxé’ has a simple formula which is appropriately used through the whole record, there are not big surprises or complexity, but a pure representation of how raw atmospheric black metal can sound. The approach of placing the keys clearly above the guitars may dissatisfy some black metal fans, although I honestly think that the music sounds enough raw and heavy to convince you that this approach is also very interesting. Personally, I love this kind of atmospheric black metal, and I think that Moorgeist’s work is excellent in this effort. The amount of excellent keyboard melodies is something that deserves some praise, and the compositions are well crafted. In conclusion, ‘Helcaraxé’ is a very recommendable album to those who equally enjoy rawness and atmosphere.