Where did this one come from? I had totally no idea about this band’s existence until I found this CD in my mailbox. The band hails from Helsinki, Finland and its members had previously learnt their licks in bands like Black Betsy, Spoiled Betty, Confusa and Aurinkokerho. I am not even going to pretend I am familiar with those bands so it doesn’t say much to me and I am not gonna try to draw any comparisons. The artwork makes you expect some more crusty type of sound, but surprisingly there’s a lot of groove in here. After the short medium-paced intro which blasts with double bass and heavy ass guitar work, the first song, Feikki, kicks in and it turns out MORA is as hardcore as it can be.The music is tight technically, but at the same time quite fast and in your face all the time. You can hear a lot of old school hardcore influences, but there’s a slight modern touch to it as well. The drumming is awesome, the guy is on point all the time and controls the pace of the songs flawlessly. MORA has two female vocalists, one straight up screaming and the second one with more harsh vocals. Although it’s not my favorite style of vocals, it fits pretty well with the music and after some time I got used to it.
The girls sing in Finnish which is one of the coolest things about the album. I love bands singing in their native langue and it totally works for MORA. I got the translations along with the CD and lyrical-wise, it carries social and political observations and tackles problems like mindless violence, consumerism, fake people who talk too much shit etc. Usual shit, but the sharp and aggressive delivery leaves no doubt that they're serious about the message they want to put across.
I don’t really feel like breaking it down track by track, it’s totally useless with albums that blast 9 tracks in about 15 minutes. The bottom line is that this is a solid release.
Review by Dloogi
Self released, 2012.
Band's website here.
