The Moor - Ombra

Angry Metal Guy

Those who know me know that Opeth is one of my favorite bands. Those who know me well know that Still Life is my favorite Opeth record. Those who know me extremely well know that “The Moor” was the first Opeth track I heard. The prospect of anything remotely resembling their golden period of music from 1999 until 2005 is very exciting to me. It was on this basis that I chose to review Ombra by Italy’s The Moor, especially in light of the “progressive metal” tag on its one sheet. Could this album hope to match such expectations?

Off the bat, describing Ombra as progressive death metal is, politely, ambitious. Impolitely, flagrantly incorrect. The guttural vox gesture in the direction of death metal and the layering of heavy and light instruments and tones might tend towards progressive metal, but O(ld)peth this ain’t. The package has the aesthetic sheen of Sweden’s most melodic death metal bands (think Soilwork, In Flames) but this isn’t surprising given that Ombra was mixed and mastered by Fredrik Nordström who has worked with most of the notable melodeath bands. In reality, The Moor prioritize verse/chorus song-writing, simplistic guitar leads, a mix of vocals and synth string sections, blending these elements into a collection of songs that have a remarkably consistent feel. Despite the apparent link to music that is both progressive and deathly, this isn’t an especially experimental, challenging, or heavy release.

Simplistic metal lives or dies by its riffs and sadly those that I find interesting are few and far between here. Chromatic chugs typically occupy the introductions and transitions, while basic power chords under-pin the cleanly sung passages. Most of the music just isn’t very fun to listen to. On the infrequent occasions when the guitarist is permitted to escape from these confines, I’m far more engaged. The bold, emotive solo on “Passage,” the deeper grooves on “Lifetime Damage” and the harmonized, Gothenburg-style lead on “Illuminant” stand above the rest simply because they’re different. The remainder feels like a torrent of somewhat downcast, chugging metal. The overall emotional tone is somewhere around mildly surly rather than the melancholia I suspect was targeted. Though the music initially strikes as urgent and energetic – due to much of the music operating at a high tempo – it quickly becomes turgid and dull due to the unvarying emotional tone.

The opener called “Il Tema dell’Ombra” dares to be different, building tension through a pulsing synth line and piano. Swelling strings subsequently cap a bombastic introduction. It’s solid but sadly bears little resemblance to anything that follows, resulting in an opener that sounds pointless. This sense of pointlessness pervades Ombra. As the record hits its core after the first few tracks you begin to realize that there is nothing new to come. The ten main tracks all do the same thing. There are no real stinkers but precious few highlights or curve balls either. Besides the opener, only “Lifetime Damage” attempts something bigger, with grander vocals and chunkier leads. When The Moor move away from sad crooning and faux-melancholic behavior, they have more impact. But these moments can’t overcome the majority which is derivative, modern melodeath with few unique characteristics.

Ombra isn’t proactively bad, but it’s a drab and forgettable slice of modern metal that does little to stand apart from loads of other bands that have already done this sound and done it better. I can understand the appeal of this sort of music; it’s melodic and synthy to win a popular audience, but its subtle tinges of death metal will make that audience feel hardcore. There’s someone who will love this record. Sadly for The Moor, that person is not me.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Inertial Music
Websites: themoorband.com | bandcamp.themoor.com
Releases worldwide: March 15th, 2024

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