Mouflon - Eros & Thanatos

 I haven't been great at keeping up with new album releases recently. But one thing that I want to do with this blog is share recently released albums that I'm really enjoying. And the first album I want to give an in depth look to is "Eros & Thanatos" by Mouflon.
Mouflon is a band who I've been following ever since I first saw them live all the way back in 2017, before they even released their first studio album. When I first started going to local concerts my main city to do so was Arnhem, because it was the only city that was reachable within reason for me at the time that had a venue that housed a lot of metal shows. And with Mouflon being a staple of the Arnhem death metal scene it was inevitable that I was going to run into them at some point. I have now seen them 10 times and hopefully an 11th time will come soon when they celebrate the release of this very album next month.
In any case, let me not get too caught up with all the sentimental malarkey and let's have a look at this album!

Mouflon has always had this very distinct style of old school death metal with a little bit of doom mixed in. And you can tell that with each album they're able to refine their sound more and more. In essence this one doesn't sound too different from their first two albums. Yet there is still a sense of growth that I can definitely notice.
The album starts off with "The Divine Wind (Special Attack Unit) which immediately sets the tone for what to expect here. There is no intro or slow interlude, it just punches you right in the face with the exact sound that I've known Mouflon for. 
One thing that happens a lot in this album is that you will have these songs that waltz over you with these agressive in your face riffs. And then we slow down for a bit with some melodic guitar playing, to then get back to the violence either by the end of the song or with the start of the next song. This is not the first time Mouflon has done stuff like this, but I think they have done a great job refining this idea with this album. 
The production quality is definitely a step up as well from their previous work. It's a lot easier for me to really hear everything that is going on. On previous albums there would be times where certain instruments kind of blended together a bit in the mix. With this album I didn't really find this at all which is a big step up for me. 
I'm a big sucker for this type of tremolo riffing combined with the old school death metal drums. Especially when there's always that little doom undertone present that brings the sound together. On vocals R.J. has this very distinct style where he does these deep gutturals, yet I can somehow also hear a little bit of nuance in there that feels reminiscent of Martin van Drunen from Asphyx' style.
To get back to the songs themselves, I think this album doesn't have a dull moment on it. It's roughly 34 minutes long which to me is right in that sweet spot of how long an album in this style should be. And the entire time they pretty much follow the same formula that keeps me listening to it. 
My personal favourite song is probably the opening track "The Divine Wind". Though there are some other tracks that deserve a bit of a mention. I think the doom influences shine really well in the song "Nullectomy" for example. This song changes the pace quite often but does it in a way that keeps me wanting more. Some other tracks I particularly enjoyed are "Sun and Steel", "Scalp-Hunting" and "She Who Is Death". Though honestly I enjoyed all of them.

Some final thoughts, I'm really happy to hear such a strong output from a local hero of mine like Mouflon. I hope that I will be able to attend their album release show next month because I would love to hear these songs performed live. I already have the CD here with me and it's been getting a lot of spins. I'm going to be ready when it's time to see them again!

With that I'm going to call it a post. Be sure to check this album, and all of Mouflon's other outputs out if you're into raw death metal. You'll have a great time doing so!

Bring 'em to the pit!