Ottawa’s Moratorium dropped a thunderous debut in October 2019, taking the thick and abrasive hardcore-meets-bleak-sludge-metal-riffs backdrop of bands like His Hero Is Gone, Cursed, and Union of Uranus.
Blending some of the best features of modern extremity all coiled into one, the fervor and sheer intensity of this record puts levels into the red. This blend comes in the form of a bulldozing downtuned wall-of-sound, replete with churning guitars mixing metallic chaos with a hint of melodic edge, and superb vocals that seamlessly morph between blazingly urgent modern hardcore grunts and more agonizing sludgier screams. The record is an impressive display of dark hardcore that keeps its momentum up from beginning to end.
Add to that some excellent lyrics that go beyond your standard clichés, and you have a band that truly deserves your attention. The title track “Night Mothers” was actually written in regards to defending women’s bodily autonomy and features guest vocals by no one else but Chris Colohan (SECT, Cursed, Burning Love, Left For Dead, Ruination, and tons more), adding his intense vocals skills to the already crushingly good recording. I just wonder why no guest vocals from a female singer on that particular song?
It’s only a debut EP but it’s a blistering one in every way possible: production, songwriting, lyrics, execution, etc. My only complain is I haven’t found this earlier.
