Zørormr – The Monolith

Relatively recently I was asked to say a few words on an album released back in 2023?! In spite of that, I agreed to give it a spin and see what we are dealing with here. Zørormr is one-man Polish (Opole) project led by Moloch. In 2023 he released its latest release entitled The Monolith. It was released through Via Nocturna and features cover art by Paweł Kuranda. This fourth full-length by Zørormr features following eight songs:

Tracklist:

01. The Monolith
02. Downward Spiral
03. Hollow
04. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
05. The Pentagram
06. Return to Nothingness
07. Per aspera, ad astra
08. Enter the Void

After listening to The Monolith twice now I still find it difficult to articulate my emotions towards this album. So let me instead begin with a general description; The Monolith is a solid black metal album featuring eight tracks that blend raw, aggressive and traditional, fast-paced black metal with more technical and standout melodic guitar solos. Another thing noticeable is the massive and enormous impact it leaves on a listener; app. 46-minutes of pure nihilism, misanthropy and hate towards the indifferent world. The guitars are raw, brutal and fast tremolo, the vocals are bestial, fiery and menacing, while it’s bolstered by impressive pummeling drum work laying the foundation for other instruments. The lyrical content (in English) is dealing with themes such as evil, darkness, Lucifer, occultism and similar black/dark/ambient metal subjects.

Key tracks and album highlights are the expansive title track and longest piece on the album “The Monolith”, while “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” (named after the famous Harlan Ellison short story) is another notable, fast-paced song worth of a additional scrutiny!

Despite of the fact that The Monolith is not a traditional concept album, every track manages to grab your attention from start to finish. In other words; we are presented to high-quality songwriting – being a coherent album which features songs with a similar unified feel and thematic concept, creating a singular, immersive listening experience rather than just a collection of songs.

The Monolith is characterized by its high-quality modern, clean and structured production, giving the album a massive sound surrounded/encompassed by an almost orchestrated classical and theatrical vibe. Recommended for worshippers of an old school Norwegian second wave and for fans of a nihilistic Polish black metal scene in particular.

The Monolith is the most personal Zørormr album to date – a record worthy of its title. Make sure to check out Zorormr’s social media for more info either on bandcamp or facebook.