There are times when "Big Daddy" here and all writers in the world must deal with something musically new or different that astonishes us at first, and we must spend some time to become used to it. And when we deal with bands with a more experimental approach, for sure it can become a hard work to write about it. Yes, there are moments that the thing becomes truly difficult to understand, even to an old war horse into Metal like me. And the Canadian quartet MERDARATHA is what we can call a labor to Hercules himself, for their album "As the Dark Clouds Swept Away" is a strange and hard music to deal with.

To my ears, it seems a mix between Black Metal influences with Dark Ambient music, something harsh and somber, but with some electronic effects and some chaotic insight. I know that I am not as clear as it is needed, but it's a case to hear and to take your own conclusions. There are harsh shrieked vocals, very distorted and heavy guitar riffs (with some clean and introspective moments) and distorted bass and heavy drums in the middle of chaos and electronic effects. And it's a matter to hear more and more to get the idea of what they want to do with such experimental approach on music.

The sound quality is good enough to understand what the band is playing, but it's heavy and abrasive, as they want, so we can think of an understandable mass of chaotic music. The quality is not a problem.

But when you come to hear their six songs, it's an interesting experience. Of course you can have some brutal and powerful songs as "The Dark Clouds" (a nightmare done with chaotic riffs and vocals in the middle of some good and somber electronic effects), "Wounded" (with a slower tempo, being bitter and harsh and having very good work of drums and bass), and the more experimental and modern "Poverty Will Spread", and they are indeed very good, but some moments as "Dirt Bodies" and "Their Blanket Stares" are just long tracks of pure noise electronic effects. And maybe be a loss of time, but it's just an opinion, I'm not saying how they must do their work.

It's complex, but good.<