MSW - Obliviosus Review

Sad metal, and music in general, is something that truly amazes me. Most metal is angry, hateful, or just plain anti-something, but every so often you find those wiggly waves that hit the perfect mix between catharsis and solemnity. Most sad music I listen to comes from the more "rocking" side of the music spectrum, with artists like Have A Nice Life and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, wherewith the weight of the world on my shoulders, I contemplate everything my life has amounted to, the inevitability of death, memories of my forgotten past, etc. From here, my relationship with the harsher palette enters, and with it, new feelings of turmoil and trepidation. On one end, we have artists like Oathbreaker and Frontierer, both of whom invoke in me a violent agitation that spurns me to tears on the mere destruction of my willpower. The other side, however, is a complete self-renouncement of myself; A complete loss of feeling, where a cold numbness can caress my body, my mind, and my soul, leaving me with nothing but the music in front of me, and my own demons to find and submit to. Fewer groups bring me here, Bell Witch a primary suspect, but recently added was MSW, the doomier project of sludge drone project Hell's main man. 

I never really appreciated Hell's music until I saw the group open for מזמור (Mizmor) last year, where I woke to see the despondent majesty of the group. Hell III, the band's 2012 release, has truly made an impact on me, with the two near twenty-minute tracks comprising of some of the most depressing sludge doom I have ever heard, and have only reinforced the rest of their material to be as strong as it has been. But the most recent release from MSW is Obliviosus, a tragic and heartwrenching experience that has shaken me these past few weeks. Merely four tracks, with one being a  three-minute classical piano interlude, it may seem like there isn't much of substance on this album. Fortunately, I can assure you this is not the case. 

Opening with "O Brother," which boasts a more standard sound in comparison to Hell, the crushing riffs and familiar vocal deliveries bring me back to all of MSW's classic work. This, however, is more forlorn, and rather clean as well. The walls of distortion only warble so much, and Williams' vocal delivery is actually decipherable on most of these tracks. Alongside operatic cleans from one Karli Mcnutt, this song ebbs and flows with a very מזמור-like quality. It varies from ferocious black metal to a more psychedelic sludge sound that I had become familiar with on releases like Yodh or even Cairn. The influence is pretty clear at least on this cut, but this isn't to squelch its execution. Over its seven-minute runtime, "O Brother" brings the heat before truly slowing things down on the next few tracks.

"Funus," as I mentioned earlier, is the three minute piano ballad on here. Normally I would think to scoff at an interlude so early on, but this does not feel like those normally do. MSW's playing is so light, reserved, and frankly, beautiful, that I actively enjoy listening to this cut. This song also features a beautiful violin duet with Gina Eygenhuysen of Weeping Sores, who I revered on that band's debut last year. Her playing is equally as stunning as Williams' piano and adds a lot to the haunting soundscape the track creates. It also leads to "Humanity" wonderfully, which is probably my favorite of the lot. Its dissonant guitar and clean vocal melodies are eerily memorable and wonderfully composed alongside the rhythm section, which builds each and every part to its inevitable crushing end. Nowhere else on this album do I feel more depressed and morose than on this song, which has fewer harsh vocals. While he is no Erik Moggridge, I would love to see more clean vocals from Williams in the future, as, at least here, they complement the music extremely well. 

Ending with the twenty-minute title track, the doom and gloom remain, and all sounds on the album come into play full-force. With a lead akin to "Seelenlos" off of Hell (2017), the weight of Obliviosus shows itself here; we have graceful guitar passages, crushing doom riffs, thundering black metal, and a droning conclusion. While it isn't anything new from MSW or his associated projects, it is a near-perfect execution of his formula and influences, and "Obliviosus" is the culmination of this. While I can assume due to the subject matter on which this album was written that these lyrics are heartwrenching, we cannot be sure until we see the liner notes. Regardless, aside from the normal Hell we expect and live, Obliviosus is agonizing to listen to. The amount of passion put into this project is immense, and the music speaks for itself. If you need to cry, spin "Humanity" a few times. If you need to scream, try out "Obliviosus" for size. Maybe use "Funus" to reflect. This record has a lot to offer, for many different reasons. Do not sleep on it, as it is one of the stronger releases this year,

Final Verdict: 'Set fire to the lamb, walk into the flames'

Favorite Tracks: All

FFO: Hell, מזמור, Thou

Track List:

1. "O Brother"

2. "Funus"

3. "Humanity"

4. "Obliviosus"

You can support MSW on his Bandcamp.