Perfect dose of aggressiveness and atmosphere - A review of Moldun's ''Moldun''

Moldun is a melodic death metal quintet from Reykjavík that received some attention for appearing as local live band in the stunning Fortitude television series where the lads put on a great show. This self-titled effort is the only release from the Icelandic band so far and leaves you wanting more.

The band offers a balanced mixture of aggressiveness and atmosphere on the nine tunes with a total running time of thirty-five entertaining minutes. The cold and fast riffs, the vivid rhythm section and the raw lead vocals remind of early Gothenburg melodic death metal in the key of In Flames, Dark Tranquillity and At the Gates. The group also includes a few passages that slow things down and focus on melancholic, hypnotizing and atmospheric melodies that are typical for metal groups from northern countries. These parts are always well integrated into the songs and never feel out of place or watered down. The entire release sounds very balanced between these two extremes and unfolds its magic best when enjoyed from start to finish. No song particularly stands out because they are all high-quality tracks. My personal favorites are ''This Time You Dig the Hole'' that starts in a dreamy fashion to explode into a thunderous torrent of melancholic misery, the more complex ''Of Pigs'' with a running time around six minutes including well integrated sound samples and finally the short but highly experimental ''Goodbye & Godspeed'' with its gloomy spoken word samples and a very technical riff work that shows off the whole talent of the band.

Those who aren't pleased with In Flames' contemporary experiments with clean vocals and alternative rock soundscapes and are longing for melodic death metal in the key of the late nineties and early years of the millennium should definitely give Moldun a chance. This release doesn't reinvent the genre and the Icelandic quintet is maybe still missing its very own style but the record is both atmospherically and technically convincing and sounds surprisingly fresh these days where only few bands revisit the original melodic death metal style accurately. Let's hope that this band that is currently on hold will build upon this promising debut record. On a closing side note, you should really watch the Fortitude television series.

Final rating: 80%