Well fellow readers, fall is just beginning to cast its golden, autumnal spell to nature these days. Days are coming to shorter ends and the sanctifying rain is just beginning to distill the polluted air of Tehran. Fall may seem boring to some of us, yes it may seem that you might not find much free-time that you used to in summer but every season has its own start for many people. It's the season where the website has gone through man modifications and ready for a new start, how metallic I would say, I mean most of the "new start's" happen in spring but for us metalheads and rockers it's fall. Autumn is in all of us metal and rock fans and now is a great time to enter the atmosphere of metal and rock music. What better way to unite?

Have you gone to the swamp these days? It's got an eclectic atmosphere filled with celestial beauty.

As it's filled with many events, mostly in a natural way; Frog's consummately dining themselves to a snack of brainless mosquito's and the wind brushing the delicate, subtle reeds. The band were talking about contains the contradictory, no frog's, mosquito's or reeds, an acrid swamp overflowing with dark emotions and sensation.Another band is joining the crowd of underground Metal bands in Iran, and that's in swamp format.

They're known as "Mordab," the equivalent of the word "Swamp" in Persian language.

Speaking of its name, I admire the creativity and eccentric name of this band, because it's completely different from the rest; it contains pretty much what's the band about in a name: Dark and tranquil music with a little bit of spine-tingling melodies to fast paces rhythms and shredding solo's to name a few. You don't see much foreign bands without English based names, and Mordab is one of them. The excellent motif of the band name is that it flips and spins well in the tongue, even for foreign listeners and Metal fans; so it's like shooting two birds with a stone.The group was formed in 2005, a popular year where many Metal bands in Iran were shaping up and obviously creating their demos and Ep's. Mordab by far has one demo, with five songs, which is enough for a demo track.

They are named:

1- (No specific or known name) Intro Track.

2- Into the Mordab.

3- Self Cancer.

4- Galaxy of Obliquity.

5- No one's Land.

So that's just a synopsis of the band and their demo album. It's time for the real part of the story, and that's the review of the tracks, so stack upon Coke and enjoy.

The intro track possesses an autumnal, gloomy atmosphere, which really blends in well with the more modern styles of the band "Anathema" similar to the tracks from the "Alternative 4" and "Judgment" albums.

The synth and piano have been varied well, creating a mellow ambiance of melancholy.

As the slider moves onto 00:29, the lead guitar hit's in with a wonderful choice of sound from the guitar effect; the sound really reflects and bonds well with the synth and piano track. I sense that the usage of power chords in some parts of the songs tarnished the track a bit; it would have been better if none was used of, but overall it was performed, mixed and composed well! So far so good!

It's time to see what the band's really made of, and how they can perform and respond.

Into the Mordab is the next track. It's made up of big snare and open hi-hat bangs, followed by an interesting start from the guitar. Impressive was the vocalist's work, by omitting a nice crescendo of a grunt and then fading it for a nice feeling. Once again that pleasant sound of the guitar comes back, playing a suitable Intro-Solo which was a heavier version or more diverse and flamboyant style, compared to the first track. The rhythm guitar also blends in well, with matching and steady paced chords. Drums and bass follow a steady velocity too, thus creating a nice listening experience. The track is followed by a smart change to a more Thrash Metal based combination.

The Vocals take their turn and I must say that somehow this type of sound is different from the more common heavy and gruff vocals of many bands; it has some sort of hissing or a similar reverberation. Just after the start of the singing part, the vocals lose a morsel of balance, maybe it's because of the quick exchange of words at time stamp 01:41. Later on, everyone continues the song well. 01:45 doesn't follow the imbalance of vocals which is a good fact. The best part of the song is at timestamp 2:00, where the Farsi vocals kick in, the band did show creativity by mixing languages and the Farsi lyrics pack a punch, when the vocals states "Mordabam, Dar khabam…" Bravo on that line! but here's the drawback at timestamp 2:10 once again there is imbalance in the lyrics, it's panicked, rushed and fast compared to the Guitar, Bass and Drums, especially on the drums, because it's the drummers objective to increase tempo. "Into the Mordab" follows up well after once again, and also good grunts by the vocalist once again. Timestamp 2:35 is an added excellence obliged by the singer, the complex pattern of vocals really help to add some flavor to the secure pace of the song. Back vocals are implemented tidily and correctly. Timestamp 03:15 is immense! Grand vocal discharge! Great emphasis on the words "Butchered, Tortured" affixed a dark scene of doom and kismet. The bass guitar acted as a viaduct to move on to the cleaner side of the song, which was significantly played well and added well.

The cleaner side of the track is employed well, a short but beautiful Solo kicks in, followed by high bends and vast sets of guitar techniques, execute emotive peak points. These guys are the master at changing the song correctly and elegantly.

The Rhythm guitar is the stimulant for all those head-banging metallers out there! Solo 2 is finished quick; it's simple but sensitive. It's good to see a change of worlds in songs, which Mordab did well.

Mezzo pitched bass supplemented a diverse change in the song, warning you that in the next seconds the song is going to blow! Something made me laugh at the end of the track, and that was the diabolical laugh, it reminded me of a fat man laughing but at the same time choking on a piece of cloth! This song was pure and impressive!

Self Cancer was the follow up of the previous song, which once again returns to its dark roots of the band and genre. Clean guitar effects followed by mellow croons and vocal resonances. Galaxy of obliquity starts with an eerie, deep space toned track, really reminding me of our fellow aliens, but that's not the point of the song. Something that was uncomfortably implemented in the beginning of the song is the intro of the song, right after the space themed intro. The rhythm guitar follows an unexpected based rhythm; it really takes the vibe, thus resulting as a turnoff for many listeners which will possibly cause them to skip the track. The light vocals feel flat to me, it's like my brain doesn't have the enzymes to digest it. It has a Power Metal based plot but it's somehow dry and strangely planned out. The song revives right after when the heavy vocals kick in. The song structure is simple, drums, guitar, bass really follow a steady beat, which is a bit desiccated.

Interesting part of this track is when it's pursued by higher tempo beats, the band shows some creativity here with the vocalist subsequently meshes well with the fast tempo. The melody lead is also a standard track; I just somehow felt that something was missing in this track.

No one's Land was progressed well. The beginning has an autumnal atmosphere. Very medieval and mystical, it had a "My Dying Bride" taste to it with its fascinating ambience. The track has some great and also horror movie-like reverberations. I realized that Mordab has some unique traits that make it different from others, which is an important factor in music, the mini-melodies (as I say) in between heavy rhythms are merged well. The drummer also showed some musical talent while playing stable tempo bass drum beats. The best part of this track was the atmosphere transformation, leading to a very original Doom Metal based piece. Everything went well, the vocals dropped into a more lamented perspective, which reminded me of the earlier works of "My Dying Bride" tracks such as "Le Cerf Malade" and "The Crown of Sympathy". The guitars were greatly in bond, the tapping at timestamp 03:23 was superbly fit in. It's difficult to explain all the eminent parts of the guitars, overall this was a good piece by the band.

Mordab did seem to show more vastness and virtuosity between many Iranian metal bands, which puts them in a good place. The band did have some weaknesses, like incorrect vocal timing and implementation on "Into the Mordab" and also Song composing in "Galaxy of Obliquity". Nevertheless they did well and they deserve a good applause for creating good tracks as a demo album, they surely have beaten some Iranian Metal bands for now.