The Black Moriah – ‘Road Agents of the Blast Furnace’
Album Review By Adam McCann
Folter Records/Black/Thrash Metal
In these days of quick releases, there has been a significant lapse of time since The Black Moriah (TBM) released their debut album ‘Casket Prospects’ back in 2012. Finally, the band found the time this year to record and release their sophomore album ‘Road Agents of the Blast Furnace’.
This album acts as if no time has elapsed between albums and picks up exactly where the previous album left off. Therefore, ‘Road Agents…’ blasts forward at the blistering pace that has come to be expected of blackened thrash. Blasting forward with a take-no-prisoners attitude, tracks such as ‘Say It With Bullets’, ‘Ratwater’ and ‘Twisted Axe’ have all the hallmarks of Aura Noir, but also more local bands to TBM such as Witchaven, Absu and Sauron. However, this blistering pace is a double-edged sword, ‘Road Agents…’ loses a lot of dynamics in a wall of sound approach which leads to an overall impression of one long song throughout and whilst this does not take away from the enjoyment, it does allow for concentration to wander into little more than background music.
With ‘Road Agents…’, TBM have released an album which although is listenable throughout, it unfortunately does not leave a lasting impression on anything other than average at best.
Rating : 60/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
