ZØRORMR – “The Aftermath” [EP] [Album Review]

When you think of Polish black metal bands, Behemoth, MGLA and Batushka immediately come to mind; ZØRORMR is hoping to be the fourth band on that list. In summary, ZØRORMR is a single person, black metal band created by “Moloch” during a cold Polish winter in 2010. ZØRORMR’s latest offering is their fourth overall and is 6 song EP entitled The Aftermath. It has solid production and is well mixed. If Moloch was striving for an occult black metal vibe, he should be proud of himself; I wanted to burn a black candle or two while listening to it, especially with a song entitled “Arise, Cthulhu, Arise”!

The Aftermath’s opening track, “The Last Judgement”, starts with some Slayer Reign in Blood ambience and throws in some spooky piano lines for effect, but the rest of the song is basically unremarkable. To be honest, the only other song that stands out for me is the final track called “ZØRORMR” because of the early Bathory feel to it. Moloch is a very talented musician but The Aftermath is missing hooks…lots of them. The riffing is average, but there are some very nice leads throughout. The vocal lines are well placed but the drums are via a drum machine.

For a band that strives to be a throwback to early Rotting Christ and the “glory of ’80s heavy metal”, you need an actual drummer for authenticity’s sake. I’m thinking if Moloch brought more session musicians into the mix, ZØRORMR might make that fourth band on the Polish black metal list. For the time being it’ll just read “vacant”.

Track Listing:

01. The Last Judgement
02. The Crawling Chaos
03. The Adversary
04. The Aftermath
05. Arise, Cthulhu, Arise!
06. ZØRORMR

Run Time: 25:02
Release Date: June 10, 2016

Check out the song “In The Mouth Of Madness”