### Moloken: Rural

#### 12/03/12 || cadenz

Umeå, that wonderful town in northern Sweden that has produced such gems for the world of music as Meshuggah, Naglfar, Refused, Cult of Luna and Mats/Morgan Band, has birthed another platoon to take into consideration: Moloken. If you take a teeny-tiny bit of Meshuggah, some Refused and a lot of Cult of Luna, you’ll end up with this concoction: trippy, sludgey metal/post-rock with lots of cool, hazy atmospheres. Add an apocalyptic aura of bleakness and despair that permeates the whole disc, and you’ve got yourself a winner.

“Rural” is Moloken’s second full-length, and it shows off a band that is well mature beyond its years (formed in 2007). Clearly there is no hurry anywhere at all, as every riff is given time to develop in full. The repetitive nature of many riffs creates almost a trance-like state, with the parts overlapping each other in an intricately woven web of arrangements. For example, the same hypnotic clean guitar part can go on for minutes, with ambient noises and several different harsh riffs being tentatively presented on top of it, which then lead into full-out bashing when the clean part disappears. It’s like one long journey from nothingness into nothingness; these guys obviously like their music creative, experimental and organic. Just the way it’s supposed to be.

The production has punch even though it’s kind of garagey and indistinct, which is a good thing. A pristine soundscape wouldn’t have suited the music at all. The instrumental mix is very homogeneous and well-packed, props for the gritty bass sound. There aren’t that much vocals on “Rural”, most of which are angry-as-fuck bellows in the hardcore style, mixed with some grunts and screams. The vocals are mostly “just” another instrument in the mix. The drummer deserves a huge nod of approval, as his diverse playing seamlessly steers the ship from one dynamic to another. There’s everything from proggy odd meters to gross meat pounding to jazzy ambient stuff, and even blastbeats. It’s like these guys read the rule book, pissed on it and fed it to the Jehovah’s Witnesses next door. Good on ya, bitches.

The main selling point for “Rural” is the oppressive atmosphere, and that Moloken’s sound is quite original. The emotional highs (or should I say lows) are many, but if you’re going to look up one song only, you’d have to go with the monumental “Ulv” – 16 minutes and 23 seconds of post-apocalyptic bad-assery. Highly recommended for all friends of harsh, odd, hazy stuff.

- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: Discouraged Records
- Website: molokenband.tumblr.com
- Band
- Kristoffer Bäckström: guitars, vocals
- Patrik Ylmefors: guitars
- Nicklas Bäckström: bass, vocals
- Jakob Burstedt: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. The Titan Above Us
- 02. Waltz of Despair
- 03. Casus
- 04. Blank Point
- 05. Ulv
- 06. Thin Line
- 07. Åland