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Mgla


the_thrashing

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So I just saw them last night in Belgrade with Dagorath and Marta Aura.

One of my best friends is really into Mgla so I went with him. To him Mgla is the best bm band ever, I like them but they aren't my favorite. They were cool live.

Dagorath was really cool. Marta Aura had some really good riffs but the singer's clean vocals killed it for me.

Anyone else going to see Mgla on this tour?

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I was excited about these guys when I first heard Groza but I've felt let down by every release since. There are some cool parts here and there, but overall they strike me as being content to churn out a product with well-defined limits. "Exercises" is a step up from "Hearts", but there's still too much in there that sounds like boilerplate and sets my teeth on edge. I'd like to like them better than I do. Maybe someday I'll come around. Heard good things about the live show.

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5 minutes ago, FatherAlabaster said:

I was excited about these guys when I first heard Groza but I've felt let down by every release since. There are some cool parts here and there, but overall they strike me as being content to churn out a product with well-defined limits. "Exercises" is a step up from "Hearts", but there's still too much in there that sounds like boilerplate and sets my teeth on edge. I'd like to like them better than I do. Maybe someday I'll come around. Heard good things about the live show.

I'm with you, everybody acts like they're the big shit the last few years. They're alright, they don't suck but I'm not impressed. They have a very samey approach and don't experiment or branch out, not much variation in their songs. A good friend thinks they are the greatest and for him the last album really does it for him. The gig was packed last night. I liked one of the opening acts a lot more. They did sound good live though.

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I wish that I could see Mgla on this tour, but they are not coming anywhere near to where I live.  I was especially interested to hear Marta Aura live with them.

As for Mgla overall, I have been consistently impressed with their work.  I think that Exercises in Futility will be regarded as a modern classic, as it is extremely well constructed - excellent riffs, meaningful vocals, etc.  I was also always impressed by their shorter eps ("Further Down the Nest," etc.) because they retained the quality musicianship, but had a raw edge to the recording quality that I like a lot.

I have not heard the new album yet, but, from what I have heard, it is a bit of a let down.

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‘Exercises in Futility’ is one of the greatest black metal albums of all time in my view. And I hated the internet trend this band had, so steered clear of them for years, posers. 

One day I thought I should finally check them out, so I got the lyrics up on metal archives and listened on YouTube. I couldn’t believe it, I was really impressed. 

I then bought the CD and downloaded the album on Apple Music and I’ve been playing it non stop for about 8 months. It’s the only ‘Exercise...’ I get these days. Little joke there. 

For me it’s many things, but the riffs, atmosphere, production, drumming!, lyrics and vocals all just combine to affect me. There’s emotion and nihilist intellect bound together and there feels a reason and meaning behind listening to it. It speaks to me. Those who haven’t followed the lyrics, I suggest you do so as it could add a new dimension to your experience. 

I also now have ‘With Hearts Toward None’ and ‘Age of Excuse’, neither of which live up to ‘Exercises...’, but they’re still very good. 

Tracks 1, 4,5 and 6 of ‘Exercises...’. Genius. 

 

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1 thing I can say that is awesome about Mgla, my friend bought Exercises in Futility on vinyl at the gig and they signed it for him. Not that it is really rare but they are headliners and lots of bands won't go hang out at the merch booth and meet fans. And it wasn't one of those because the band are the merch guys kind of thing. They had a designated merch dude but still popped up at the booth immediately after the gig.

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On 9/21/2019 at 12:38 AM, the_thrashing said:

1 thing I can say that is awesome about Mgla, my friend bought Exercises in Futility on vinyl at the gig and they signed it for him. Not that it is really rare but they are headliners and lots of bands won't go hang out at the merch booth and meet fans. And it wasn't one of those because the band are the merch guys kind of thing. They had a designated merch dude but still popped up at the booth immediately after the gig.

It's good that they have that engagement with fans, because with all the hype it would be pretty easy to start believing the bullshit and distance themselves from the mortals. 

If they live up to the sentiment of their lyrics then it makes sense that they keep things in perspective. 

It would be amazing to see them in Australia. Not sure if they have any plans on that front. 

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  • 1 month later...

Any thoughts out there regarding ‘Age of Excuse’?

It’s definitely growing on me. That Mgla sound and vibe is so damn appealing, so that even though the whole album doesn’t quite stack up as far as riffs are concerned, it still draws me back again and again. 

With a few big name black metal releases coming out his year, it’s pretty easy to listen to this in that context and recognise how cool this album really is. 

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8 hours ago, Requiem said:

Any thoughts out there regarding ‘Age of Excuse’?

It’s definitely growing on me. That Mgla sound and vibe is so damn appealing, so that even though the whole album doesn’t quite stack up as far as riffs are concerned, it still draws me back again and again. 

With a few big name black metal releases coming out his year, it’s pretty easy to listen to this in that context and recognise how cool this album really is. 

I really need to listen to the album, but have not checked it out yet.  My dislike of the cover art is so strong that it has been placed low on my list of things to listen to.  But that is a bad prejudice to have, considering some of the discussions about album art that have been going on here recently.  Perhaps it will be the backing music to some computer work that I have to do this weekend...

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On 10/27/2019 at 4:07 AM, Balor said:

I really need to listen to the album, but have not checked it out yet.  My dislike of the cover art is so strong that it has been placed low on my list of things to listen to.  But that is a bad prejudice to have, considering some of the discussions about album art that have been going on here recently.  Perhaps it will be the backing music to some computer work that I have to do this weekend...

The artwork doesn't bother me too much, and in some ways I think it's pretty cool. The whole booklet is pretty minimal and unexciting except for the lyrics, as it was for 'Exercises in Futility'. 

Anyway, if you give it a few listens I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. 

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6 hours ago, Requiem said:

The artwork doesn't bother me too much, and in some ways I think it's pretty cool. The whole booklet is pretty minimal and unexciting except for the lyrics, as it was for 'Exercises in Futility'. 

Anyway, if you give it a few listens I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. 

It is interesting that they would have such a minimalist booklet layout with such arguably maximalist art.  The art used on their previous releases was always so austere and simple that such a layout would perfectly match.

Are the lyrics just as good as Exercises in Futility?

I will try to give the album a listen over the next few days and report back with my thoughts!

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16 hours ago, Balor said:

It is interesting that they would have such a minimalist booklet layout with such arguably maximalist art.  The art used on their previous releases was always so austere and simple that such a layout would perfectly match.

Are the lyrics just as good as Exercises in Futility?

I will try to give the album a listen over the next few days and report back with my thoughts!

I don't think the lyrics are as good as 'Exercises...'. They seem a little more opaque and less direct. Same style of lyrics ultimately though. It's like everything on 'Age...' is similar to 'Exercises...', but just not as special and sometimes lacking that x-factor. Still good though!!

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  • 6 months later...
On 5/27/2020 at 5:59 PM, Sabazios said:

The thing with mgla is the riffs are great, the production I do like as well, absolutely love the drumming, especially the double bell parts, but the song structures tend to be a little lacking, a lot of section 1 - section 2 - section 3 and repeat. 

I think the structure is fitting, though,  Their music was always a bit technical.

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  • 1 year later...

I've actually never listened to Mgla. I was told that just like Watain, Marduk and Gorgoroth before them, their live shows were protested and shut down by busybodies, so that makes me want to listen to them that much more.


I'm actually looking for Mgla albums now and have found Groza and Mdlosci/Further Down the Nest on HH and am debating putting them in my cart. I was hoping to find Exercises in Futility and Age of Excuse because I heard that those were the best ones, but I'll probably start with the other two.

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