Halter - For The Abandoned

Halter

For The Abandoned

by Johnny Jackal at 30 August 2016, 2:00 PM

This is the second full length album from the Doom Metal band from Moscow, Russia. The quintet are on MFL Records, a Moscow based label that is specialized in Doom Metal. I really don’t know much about the Metal Scene in Russia to be honest. I actually don’t know many bands from there except maybe ARKONA. Russia being a very oppressive country, I am not surprised to see a number of Doom and Death Metal bands. From what I read, there are a lot of bands that are in that genre.

I was not able to get myself a copy of the previous album ‘’Omnipresence of Rat Race’’ but from all accounts it has been considered a masterpiece in the genre. I really need to find a copy whenever I have a chance to go to some specialized music stores here in downtown Montreal. They say it’s a much stripped down band that could have been part of that first Doom Metal revolution in the late 70’s and early 80’s. I’ll have to see for myself when I get to listen to their previous releases.

Their lyrical themes revolve around the depression and demise in Russia nowadays. They speak a lot of being subjected to the oppression of the government and that the government is there for itself and that the population feels abandoned and left to them. They talk about the destruction of nature and how desolate some of the landscapes since the Chernobyl disaster. You get the feeling that they are heavy hearted and that nature was a big part of Russia back in the day and that ever since that accident, nothing has been the same unfortunately.
It’s some really deep musical content; it’s slow, methodical and very heavy. You feel like you are being crushed by all of the musical notes. You can feel every single guitar riff in your bones. It’s intense but it reflects really well the lyrical themes I mentioned beforehand.  When you read the lyrics, you can sense all of the emotion of the band even though that most of the time you don’t really understand the growl vocals all that much.

The album beneficiates from a solid production even though that Doom Metal at its base, is a very sub standard production with a really raw sound. This has some pretty good production and it helps a lot the overall value of the album itself. Nothing really stands out; every song has its own path and its own style. All of the songs complete themselves quite well and you have an overall awesome album.

This album could have been out in the 70’s with bands like PENTAGRAM and it would have had so much recognition. It’s a shame that the band is not well known because they are so much head and shoulders above most the Doom Metal bands nowadays. A definite must buy!

Songwriting: 9
Originality: 9
Memorability: 9
Production: 9