Release Date: 21 December 2024
Song Count: 11
Duration: 48 minutes, 7 seconds
Rating: 7.1/10
Description:
From Ván Records, the label also behind our entry from two days ago, emerges another band to have their own moment to shine, this time playing mystic folk from Groningen in the Netherlands. The Baleful Tales is the second album from the rather newly formed trio Mortifero, and from the very beginnings of the records, they make their dark, mysterious and morbid musical style of presentation clear as day. They describe themselves as a music group "enshrouded in clouds of incense", and invite listeners to join along on an indulgent and bewitching journey that may just happen to involve someone's demise along the way.
Acoustic guitars, deep basses, echoing piano keys and reverberated, haunting vocals act as the bread and butter of the record's sound as the atmosphere resembles ones of sitting down by a campfire and hearing ancient tales of the land from older, less forgiving times. The lyrics speak of witch burnings, dances with death, and devils looming around the coil of the living, and are sung in a particular way that really envelops one into the both serene and sinister ambience. Its effectiveness lies in its simplicity, and the fact that it does not feel the need to go above and beyond aurally in order to sell its premise is what ends up making its subtly eeriness effect by far the most pronounced it could possibly be.
In spite of being of the same overarching genre of folk music as the album we looked at yesterday, the feeling one comes out of the listening experience with could not be any more different. The Baleful Tales creeps in with a lower energy level and passes by gracefully and seamlessly, like a breeze brushing through the leaves in an unexplored forest at sunset, and adds in just enough of a tinge of morbidity to complete the mental image painted in one's head through the music. Even if not all of the songs may stick around in one's mind individually for a longer time, the chills induced by the general sound of the music more than make up for any drawbacks of specific memorability. Truly a well-crafted record from a talented group that most certainly deserves far more recognition than they are currently receiving.