Mord'A'Stigmata hails from Poland and was founded back in 2004. Their 2013 album, 'Ansia' became the best selling Polish black album. Now these guys are back with a stunning ep, firmly rooted in black metal but taking on a highly ritualistic approach. This band goes its own way, its own fascinating way. Blending elements from black metal, the current post-scene, doom and even shoegaze and martial ambient, this certainly is something surprising.
Opener 'The Mantra of Anguish' is a brilliant piece of work, reminding me a bit of Thy Primordial's 'Destroying the Idea of a God'. The tempo is quite slow but that doesn't harm the power and the bleak atmosphere. This still is one massive piece of black metal, period. 'Those Above' tends to speed things up a bit and the blast beats finally arrive. However, after a few minutes we suddenly get a psychedelic instrumental passage.
The element of surprise is huge with Mord'A'Stigmata. I even think these guys even have been listening to acts like Arditi. This should give you an idea of the diversity of this ep. If you're into acts like Blut Aus Nord or Nachtmysticum, you really want to check out this gem. Black metal rarely gets more varied than this. What am I saying, black metal NEVER gets are varied as this...
Serge