Marras – Endtime Sermon

Marras

Endtime Sermon

by Ben Gardiner at 10 August 2021, 10:07 PM

MARRAS bring to the world a reverbed nostalgic album that carves its place into the vast landscape of Black Metal with its perfect incorporation of new ideas on old foundations. Tremolo guitar picking and blast beats on the drums, come with buckets of atmosphere thanks to the production, giving a new refined take to the brutal Raw sound, whilst still retaining that level of chaos. Members of MARRAS are no strangers to black metal, with an impressive repertoire of previous bands under their belt, this shared knowledge and experience shines through the Super Group’s music.

Opening with a haunting, Dungeon Synth type intro, MARRAS quickly incorporate their signature chaotic Black Metal explosion of noise, with the gloomier atmospheric vibe. The rising builds up on the toms, with eerie ghostly overlaying the intense guitar riff. Then entering into a more typical BM intro section, the crashing of the hi hats before the dramatic 16^th note drum fill feels almost tongue in cheek, it’s a fun take on classic song intros like EMPEROR's “Ye Entrancemperium.”

the titular song of the album is a relentless, high adrenaline, headbanger’s dream. The slow heavy beat that starts the track, combined with the strings and light piano, makes an impression of Symphonic blackened Doom, before the song bursts into a Raw Black Metal rollercoaster of guttural screams, blasting drums and an epic orchestral accompaniment.

The four Prophecies, spread throughout the album, are soulful, gentle breaks for both the ear and mind, whilst also building the vibe and layers, eliciting more emotions and they also have the effect of essentially being big build ups into the next song, making the sonic slip back into the extremities of music all the more satisfying.

“From the Soot of Goahti,” the conclusive song of the album, is H’s vocals at their must guttural and brutal. The double bass pedal is blisteringly quick, and keeps up the intensity throughout, whilst the riff is emotional and epic, it’s an awesome closer to an awesome album.

MARRAS’ Endtime Sermon is an epic, emotional and brutally heavy wild ride from start to finish. Drawing from Dungeon Synth, symphonic Metal and Traditional Black metal, with their own atmospheric spin and brilliant talent for song writing. This is MARRAS giving back to, and also honouring, the genre that birthed them.

Songwriting:  8
Musicianship:  8
Memorability:  8
Production:  9