Balin´s Tomb - Shadow of Mordor
How obscure can dungeon synth get?... anyone?. I am in no doubt that this Russian act called Balin´s Tomb is probably one of the most obscure Tolkien-inspired acts I´ve heard so far. I haven´t located any other releases by Balin´s Tomb, nor have I located any info on either Facebook or Discogs. So this is all you get (so far), release details on Bandcamp do inform us that this album called Shadow of Mordor works, as a compilation of tracks being collected. 15 tracks, 30 minutes. Most of the tracks are about 1 minute 20 seconds long, last two tracks run longer.
It does sound like some early black-metal band in the cellar being drunk and shit, and doing all this kind of scary orc-synth music. BUT, the thing is that it does have a childish and convincing sound. It´s pretty abrasive and primal and just ... eerie and other-worldly sort of. I can´t help but compare it with the eerie Halloween-synth cassette Pumpkin Witch (see former review). It´s one of those where you just ... Well, it is one of a kind!. Outsider dungeon-synth if you like. If anyone would be throwing of a party and playing Mortiis all night, and you end up putting this baby on (after having several strong alcoholic beverages of course) people would PROBABLY give you this look!. (look below)
But who cares, it´s fuckin brutal and primitive orc-synth! ... not a halfbreed goblin/elf like Mortiis, who sometimes reminds me of the goblin-looking Blix (from the movie Legend with Tom Cruise). Give it a go, play an orc in some RPG instead of a boring human fighter. Bee someone who can just do whatever they feel like... Bash someone's skull in and eat their entrails (if you like). And check out the awesome looking cassette, 33 limited sewn into black leather emblazoned with the white hand of Saruman. Nice! A must-have for any orc fetishists.
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