Moribundo - "Raíz Amarga" (Satanath Records/More Hate Productions, 2017)

Band: Moribundo
Title: Raíz Amarga
Genre: Doom/Death Metal with Goth and Symphonic elements
Year: 18th June 2017
Time: 36 min
Rating: 76/100











As a fan of the mega-violence in metal music, I am not so keen on the slow metal but, surely, this doesn't avoid to me to appreciate it in the right way. This is the case of "Raíz Amarga", debut album by Moribundo (Spanish for "dying"), a Spanish trio of zombified metalheads from Madrid/Salamanca (but their third member Mortvs Vyrr is simply their lyrics writer) that released it under the auspices of Satanath Records in cooperation with More Hate Productions.

"Raíz Amarga" consist of only 4 tracks that will crush the listeners with a melancholic and autumnal doom/death metal with some goth and symphonic elements. Specifically, the death metal is basically represented by the growls of Luis Miguel Merino (I don't like so much his growls but his choked screams are awesome!) and the guitars of the multi-instrumentalist Evilead (that played everything here). The doom metal is into the generally claustrophobic and slow pace of the music through songs that often reach the 10 minutes of lenght. The few goth elements are about, for example, the soprano vocals (like in "Suicidio Ilustrado"). Instead, the symphonic elements are given by the keyboards, that have a fundamental role here also because they are able to add a more sad and decadent vibe to the entire music even by playing not so rare piano intermezzos. And we don't forget the short appearances of the violin ("Vida" and "Luz (Ciego Color)"), very useful for the dramatic sense of melody that Moribundo want to express in every song.

Beyond all these features, there is need to say that the music by this trio is incredibly full of details. This allow to the band to continuously create an elegant web of melodic plots that often brings to strongly emotive climaxes. And the nice thing is that all these melodies are also given by the good interaction between the guitars and by the bass, as well...and the bass is even able, from time to time, to play a sort of solos!

Now, I realized some little differences between the two parts of the album. In fact, if "Vida" and "Antitesis" completely lacks of fast passages, "Suicidio Ilustrado" and "Luz..." have even some blast-beats...but don't expect to be frequently smashed by them!

Ok, "Raíz amarga", whose "Antitesis" and "Suicidio Ilustrado" are, for me, the better tracks, isn't the classic album that I love to listen to everyday but I am sure that it is a must have for the fans of bands such as My Dying Bride or October Tide. I found also some comparisons with the Italians Dark Lunacy because Moribundo have a similar sense of melody, dramatic and elegant. But unfortunately, it seem to me that Moribundo is only a studio band, so I hope that they will able to create a line-up for the live shows in the future days to come. Is it okay, Evilead and co.?

Tracklist:

1 - Vida
2 - Antitesis
3 - Suicidio Ilustrado
4 - Luz (Ciego Color)

Line-up:

Luis Miguel Merino - vocals
Mortvs Vyrr - lyrics
Evilead - guitars/bass/drums/keyboards/violin

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/MoribundoMetal/
BandCamp: https://moribundo.bandcamp.com/releases