Here’s a band and album specifically for those that want older/early Deafheaven back and thought the new album, Infinite Granite was ….not good (but that’s a whole other discussion…). And yes count me in that number. Møl (‘Moth’) is a Danish post-black/shoegaze band that finds itself on Nuclear Blast after a debut album, Jord back in 2018 released on England’s Holy RoarRecords. Welcome to the big leagues lads.

And a solid second album it is. Confidently delivering the sound of early Deafheaven, Alcest, Ghost Bath, envy, et al with moody, dreamy, melodic, often uplifting post-rock hues and buried within strains of black metal. Recorded and Mixed by Tue Madsen (Meshuggah, Heaven Shall Burn, etc)  Diorama delivers all the goods that black metal purists will hate in spades, with a surprisingly warm, lush production (from the usually far more burly Madsen) that allows the layers of familiar pacing, atmospheres, and riffs the wash over you. Other than the closing title track, the band artfully balances everything as they never get too ‘artsy-fartsy’ and too ‘post’, with things staying mostly riff-based rather than leaning into the atmospherics and keeping those limited to a few mid-song breaks, song intros and outros.

Vocally, you get shrill black metal rasps and some very well done, well-placed female vocals (“Photophobic”, “Diorama”), which I would like to have more of,  and a few clean male croons (“Vestige”, “Itinerari”, “Diorama”). But they never get too commercial or overused. The 8 song, 51-minute runtime breezes by with amicable, pleasant tones and hues that never outstay their welcome (i.e no long, droning, repetitive songs). The likes of opener “Fraktur”, “Serf”, “Redacted” and “Tvesind” (the album’s most direct black metal track) smoothly mope and amble along with jangly, shimmery structures with a few expulsions of dramatic melody or urgency to break things up.

A band and release that will more than likely get missed or steamrolled amid Nuclear Blast’s bigger fall and winter releases (Beast In Black, Massacre, Ghost Bath, Cradle of Filth, Hypocrisy, Exodus, Obscura etc) at least here in the US, but certainly an interesting release nonetheless from a promising young band that should appeal to Deafheaven fans wanting to revisit the past.

[Visit the band's website]

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