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Mütiilation > Sorrow Galaxies > Reviews
Mütiilation - Sorrow Galaxies

The best album since "Remains..." - 90%

BlackMetal213, June 23rd, 2015

Mütiilation is a fairly well-known black metal band. Fronted by William "Meyhna'ch" Roussel, this band was a part of the infamous Les Légions Noires (The Black Legions) from the early to mid 1990s, and created some of the most raw black metal recordings in history. "Sorrow Galaxies" is Mütiilation's sixth full-length album, as well as the most recent, released nearly eight years ago in 2007. My encounter with this band was about five years ago in 2010, and it was with the "Vampires of Black Imperial Blood" album. I was put off at first by the pure raw production of that album, but it would prove to grow on me as my love for black metal continued to expand. This album, "Sorrow Galaxies", is definitely an interesting listen.

Musically, this differs a bit from the past Mütiilation releases, mainly in the droning length of these songs. There are four tracks on this album, and every one of them exceeds the 9 minute mark. The album's opener "Cosmic Seeds of Anger & Dementia" is the longest track, clocking in at over 12 and a half minutes. This song is probably the album's highlight in my opinion. It sets the mood for this record perfectly and contains some of the most satisfying melodic guitar riffs. The guitars are the focal point of this album and range from being furious to melancholically melodic. Take "The Coffin of Lost Innocence" for example. Like the other three, this song begins with a ferocious assault on the ears, yet soon after, transforms into a melodic abyss with beautiful yet sad guitar riffs. There are a few breaks that occur periodically that almost sound medieval in nature and really add to the atmosphere. A lot of slow and mid-paced sections exist within these songs, which help to justify their length. It would not be as satisfying to hear 9+ minutes of break-neck speed black metal. In addition to the furious tremolo riffing and melodic droning sections, there is also an influence of punk, especially in "Cesium Syndrome 86", which contains a pretty sick breakdown at around the halfway point. This album contains some of the greatest and most varied guitar work I have heard from Meyhna'ch.

The drums on this album are an interesting anomaly. They are actually played on a real drumkit, which contradicts usual works from Mütiilation. They sound much more organic on this album and contain so much more energy. The double bass in tracks like "Coffin of Lost Innocence" is absolutely punishing, yet not a distraction from the rest of the music. On previous albums, especially "Black Millenium (Grimly Reborn)", the drum machine was a major distraction for me. Thankfully that is not an issue here.

If there are any real complaints I have about "Sorrow Galaxies", it's probably the vocals. Meyhna'ch is not a bad vocalist, and on this album, he actually sounds a bit like Attila Csihar from Mayhem. The only issue I have with these vocals is at times, they sound somewhat forced. This is made worse because they often sound buried in the mix, which leaves them fighting for more air than they should. The production on this album is otherwise really good, especially for Mütiilation, but these vocals are far too quiet. The lyrics on this album are also somewhat juvenile at times and can come off as silly. For example, this excerpt taken from "The Coffin of Lost Innocence":

"What is their so called of god? that erase my friends, that destroy my dreams?
What have you done for me?
Why don't you just kill me?
You can be proud of you bitch...
One of the strings that keep me sane have been slashed once again"

These lyrics seem like they're coming from a typical bedroom DSBM band. This album actually shares some traits with the DSBM subgenre, which don't get me wrong, I love, but these lyrics definitely come off as cheesy sometimes. However, overall, the mixing of the vocals and some of these lyrics are really the only gripes I have about this album. I really hope I can get my hand on a physical copy of this disc, as well as other releases from this band. It was interesting that Mütiilation played Hellfest this year! Maybe they will release a new album in the future? One can only hope; it has, after all, been almost 8 years since this one.

A Galaxy of Monotony - 15%

CrimsonFloyd, April 3rd, 2011

Mutiilation were once amongst the elites of black metal. "Vampires of Black Imperial Blood" and "Remains of a Lost, Cursed and Dead Soul" are top echelon material. They are relentlessly nihilistic, dwelling in the darkest, most violent dimensions of human existence. The production is extremely raw, the vocals painfully shrill. However, what make the albums so amazing are phenomenal melodies. The riffs are sweeping, dramatic and catchy. The consequence is music dark enough to authentically disturb listeners, but engaging enough to draw them back for countless listens.

"Sorrow Galaxies" has absolutely none of the above mentioned qualities. It is an album devoid of all energy, innovation and originality. To begin, the riffs just don't have a lot of power. There is just an endless series of run of the mill black metal riffs, void of any originality. The playing only exasperates the situation. There is just no effort or passion put into the performance. The same goes for the vocals. Anyone who has ever been to a child's piano recital knows how monotonous it can be to listen to an uninspired musical performance. Meyhna'ch's performance makes one wonder if his parents are forcing him to play black metal, because he really doesn’t sound into it.

The production makes the situation even worse. The production isn't raw so much as it is muddy. Sometimes this works, typically when a band is going for an eerie, otherworldly aesthetic, but here it only manages to the blunt the emotion of the riffs. Considering the emotions weren't exactly sharp to begin with, this is not a good thing. The culminating experience is about as moving as being threatened with a butter knife by geriatric.

Finally, the songwriting is just a mess. There is no structure and no direction. The songs just flounder aimlessly for 10-12 minutes. None of the songs stand out from one another because each song equally lacks identity and creativity. The overall experience is neither dark nor eerie—it’s just boring.

In sum, Mutiilation were a great band in the 90's that pushed black metal to its nihilistic limits. Meyhna'ch's attempt to resurrect the band is absolutely underwhelming. Dull, plodding and uninspired, "Sorrow Galaxies" does not deserve the namesake of Mutiilation. Stick to "Remains..." and "Vampires..." and ignore their tepid "resurrection".

Mutiilation still play with a lot of drama & feel - 78%

NausikaDalazBlindaz, April 20th, 2008

The sole remaining band of the French Black Legions, Mutiilation, continues to ply its own hard-hitting black metal trade with several albums released in recent years including "Sorrow Galaxies". The style of music is at once melodic yet militaristic with fast pummelling drums and equally fast tremolo guitars going at once. I did have to listen to this recording a few times before I picked up the melodic aspect because the music can be very dense as if every note in every song played by Willy Roussel aka Meyhnach has been tightly accordioned up every other note in a squeezed-up package which then stays that way, with a only a few short passages in each song where the music relaxes a bit. All four songs on "Sorrow Galaxies" by the way are about 9 - 12 minutes long and have many twists and turns with corresponding changes in rhythm, pace and drama so when listeners first hear the album they can find it hard to distinguish one song from another. First-timers can try listening to the album as one work with four chapters (though it's not a concept album) and get accustomed to the style and flow of the music; it sounds nothing like what Mutiilation did in the early 1990's but after you hear the album a few times you realise there are similarities between early and current Mutiilation in the way Meyhnach may sing and in the song-writing itself.

The printed lyrics of all four songs have a stream-of-consciousness look and reveal self-loathing and a cynical and bitter attitude to life. Meyhnach's gloomy vocals are very thin and distant to the point of being spidery which makes them difficult to follow what he's singing even with the printed lyrics before you.

Best songs here are "The coffin of lost innocence" which has almost danceable riffs in parts and "Cesium syndrome 86" which can sound quite rock'n'roll in some passages, especially those bits with spoken word samples. This song in particular reveals Meyhnach's interest in apocalytpic science fiction themes. All songs have live drumming which is especially obvious on "Acceptance of my decay" where in most parts the drummer seems to be hitting solid surfaces with the sticks! A waltzing section complete with beeping guitar keeping time with the rhythm appears in the track as well - proof that after all these years Meyhnach still has a sense of humour intact.

The Mutiilation of today may not have all the over-the-top flair of its old LLN days but Meyhnach can still play BM with a lot of drama and emotion. If you think current Mutiilation is all just no-nonsense fast BM, you need to listen quite closely to the music here because there are still some moments of clownishness where strange alien voices intrude from outer space deep in the album's production and sometimes when you least expect it the music can go quite swanky and waltz-like.

Hark! Do I hear real drums? - 90%

LordBelketraya, September 27th, 2007

I guess Willy have heard our screams after all. I'm a big Mutiilation fan and I think we all have expressed our desire to hear Meyhna'ch employ a real drummer for his next release and he finally did. It's also interesting how the songs are much longer this time. Before this album Mutiilation only had one song that broke the 10 minute mark (Magical Shadows Of A Tragic Past) on 'Vampires...'. On Sorrow Galaxies three of the four songs all pass the 10 minute mark and the one song that doesn't is still 09 minutes and 28 seconds.

If you're a long time fan like myself you're quietly hoping to hear the raw, hallway production of the 'Remains...' and 'Vampires...' era releases, as well as the rest of 90's output altogether, but to no avail. I guess those days are gone forever. The production is pretty much the same as on 'Rattenkonig' or 'Black Millenium (Grimly Reborn)'. Difference being the songs are longer and they have the use of real drums. I do notice an abundance of catchy guitar riffs and memorable melodies this time around which already makes this better than anything after 'Black Millenium'.

If I had to compare the direction Mutiilation seem to have taken in the past 10 years I would compare it to Deathspell Omega in that they also had a raw sound in their earlier releases and then changed to a cleaner production with longer tracks and a more elaborate way or writing songs, a bit more complex. Either way it's an improvement for Mutiilation and their best since 2001's Black Millenium. Meyhna'ch still hasn't lost his edge when most bands after certain period of time tend to go soft or mainstream. You can't go wrong with this band if you want to hear sick, true underground black metal. Just don't expect it to sound like their 90's material. Once again Mutiilation have released another sickly sweet disease upon humanity.

A step in the right direction - 89%

DaBuddha, September 25th, 2007

At last the new Mutiilation is finally out. But the thing is, I don't think anyone even knew this was out yet, or even close to being ready. No promotion, no hype, no nothing, just one day word appeared on some forums and that's it. Well no matter, because the music is still really good and everything you've come to expect from Mutiilation is here. There is one new factor though which hasn't been seen since the Remains album and that is REAL DRUMS. Yes, there is a human drummer playing on here, instead of the lame drum machine. Who is playing them is a mystery, but what I do know is that they sound much, much better than the drums on the last three albums. A complete breath of fresh air. Actually, as I listen to this at this very moment, the whole thing feels completely fresh.

We can hear that Willy's playing style has stayed the same, his guitar playing being definitvely Meyhnach. His vocals are also relatively the same as they've been since Black Millenium, maybe slightly deeper if anything. The guitar tone is the same as its been since BM and the bass can be heard often like in Majestas Leprosus. Another reason I say it all feels new is because there are only four songs, but each one clock in at 9-12 minutes each, something Mutiilation only did with the song Magical Shadows... off the first album. They also all feel very epic, with some "spacey" elements appearing occasionally, lending themselves to the album cover and general concept of this album, but it is definately not a concept album per se. Sound clips also appear in a few of the songs for brief moments and there is also some spoken word at the beginning of the first song. The songs are also pretty catchy, with a few of the songs even having a few thrashy parts incorporated into them

As mentioned before, I can't express how good it is to have real drums back. The drums are doing a helluva lot more than they were on the past three albums. There are a decent number of fills on the songs and they are played very tight with the music. They can also be heard a lot better and are not confined to be background static anymore. The blast beat parts, which there seem to be a little less of, are not nearly as fast as they were when the drums were programmed, which to me is a good thing. I don't want to hear insane 400 BPM or whatever drums. Good decision on Willy's part indeed.

As for favorite songs, I can't really say, because I just got this today so I'm still in that process of picking out everything that each of the four songs have to offer, but as of now my favorite would be The Coffin of Lost Innocence. It has some really great melodys. All in all the album is definately a huge step up from Rattenkonig and the last three in general. Hopefully Willy will maintain this for the next albums. Recommended.