BRUTAL ROMANCE

Power trio Mörglbl return with their 5th release titled Brutal Romance. Brutal Romance consists of an hour's worth of brilliant instrumental metal interspersed with jazzy interludes spread over 11 tracks. I believe that this album is going to be most appealing for fans of shred guitar heroes such as Joe Satriani or Steve Vai, as it is these guys that this album most reminds me. Mörglbl guitarist Christophe Godin performance on this album is worthy of being mentioned with these guitar shred legends. What is great about this album is that although the guitar is the star, the bass playing and drumming are quite virtuosic in their own rights, and both Ivan Rougny on bass and Aurelien Ouzoulias on drums each have their turns to shine. The first 10 tracks all consist of wall-to-wall "melt your face off" jams. It is only on the last track, 11 Casse, where the band decide to slow things down and bring the listener back to a safer, calmer state of mind. As previously mentioned, I believe that this album will have the most appeal for fans of shred guitarists. From a progressive rock standpoint, this will be most appealing to fans of technical metal who need a break from the brutal atonal screaming or death metal growls that usually accompany this type of music. Also, this album contains only guitars, bass, and drums so you will have to look elsewhere if you need your mellotron fix or you are really craving the oboe.

This is one of those bands (trios) that really has something to share, I mean, their sound is very peculiar, exquisite, funny and challenging at the same time, so listening to Mörglbl produces a satisfactory experience almost all the time. I incidentally discovered them a couple of years ago when I found their "Grötesk" album in a store. Now I fortunately got their new work entitled "Brutal Romance" what a title, and I am satisfied.

Here you will have an hour of excellent music, progressive rock with heavy moments and evident jazz hints, the songs oscillate in the 5- 6 minute mark, so be prepared and enjoy. It opens with "Gnocchis on the Block" and well, if you previously know them, you will recognize their distinctive guitar sound since the very first notes. I love how the music never ceases, I mean they have always something to say, and that is wonderful in this musical realm.

The musicianship is evident in all their songs, an a perfect example of how the three of them gather their abilities to create top-nocht tracks is "Brutal Romance", though the guitar is probably what will catch your attention first, bass and drums always build the perfect complement, so all of them are equally important. "Le Surfer d'Argentine" makes more evident the talent of the guitar man and his wonderful riffs, but as I mentioned, it would not function if bass and drums weren't there.

"Golden Ribs" is for a few seconds the longest track here. You know, that inherent heavy rock with some metal slices, but without being metal itself. The drums are always constant and the bass in moments addictive. "Fidel Gastro" has a rockier and jazzier sound with a more friendly style reminiscent to some 70s bands, and also to some of those G3 men. "Oh P1 Can Not Be" shares power since the first seconds and it is progressing little by little, but what I like more are their changes while the music is running, so the compositional skills speak for themselves.

"Cantal Goyave" has for the first time (in my opinion) in the album that humoristic touch the band implements to their music, however it is not that evident as in their Grotesk album. "Glucids in the Sky" has a superb bass offering, the lines are wonderful, maybe my favorites from the whole album. Guitars and drums are excellent as usual. "Wig of Change" follows with the previous style, with the great compositions and challenging arrangements, and also with the humor, the example are the song titles.

The last two songs are "Metal Khartoom" and "11 Casse", in the first one we can appreciate once again their skills, and remember some metal jazz acts and again, some G3 moments; the second is the shortest of the album, begins relaxed and its intensity increases little by little. It is a nice way to close the album. And it is a very excellent album that deserves at least 8 out of 10.

Enjoy it!