Moëvöt

Okay, I don't want to spend the rest of my evening typing the special characters in this LLN project's name, so I will just refer to it by the creator's name (presumably not a birth name): Vordb. This project is very special to me. It was the very first LLN black ambient project I discovered. Of course, I later stumbled on Amaka Hahina and was lucky enough to get a real release on CD and not file sharing like so many of them, and Satanicum Tenebrae among others.

Something about this project though... strikes me as special. Vordb had a certain quality to his creation....  It's dark, yes. It's evil, yes. It's haunting, yes. The lyrics are not in English, when there are lyrics, so I have no idea what exactly he's singing about. The Encyclopedia Metallum website says his lyrical themes are Satanism and the Occult. That would fit in with an LLN project and the one interview I've read with Vordb seemed to confirm that so I'll go with that.

But this isn't loud, violent, get in your face and rip your throat out black metal. It is ghostly and mournful and, even though I do not believe Vordb feels an ounce of regret for his devotion to the darkness, it sounds like there are hints of sorrow at the solitude it brings. It resonates with me. This is music created by one who turns to darkness out of finding all his hope and visions of light crushed and annihilated. He hates, he feels pain, he suffers, he lurks in shadows, he is the epitome of the lost soul. There is no rest for him but in death and even that feels like a faint dream.

This is not the cataclysmic self-destruction of Mütiilation. Rather, it is the sound of a soul that is dead and still lingers on, spectral, draining the life from all who come near. It is filled with despair but it more eerie than depressing. You suspect Vordb himself may be in the shadows, watching you listen to his creation. What he thinks about this, you can only speculate, but it will most likely leave you an empty shell.

Sparse instrumentation and vocals and chilling sound effects make this suitable for the soundtrack to the most ghastly horror film one could possibly imagine. Actually, make that even more ghastly than one could imagine. The music sets a mood that I do not think it would be possible to capture on film. It makes the original Nosferatu look positively sunny and bright. Max Schreck would not be horrifying enough to capture the torment and bleakness of this vision. May the dark spirit bring you some comfort in your lonely ruins, Vordb, and hopefully, with Vermeth's latest release promising a return of the LLN, we will hear from your ghostly voice once again.