Oh boy. Before I get into this, I really have to make this disclaimer: The music and sound that Norwegian Black/Sludge Metal band MOSEGRODD plays is in many ways everything I generally dislike in Metal, and especially these genres. So take every word I say from this point with this in mind, because I'm the Antichrist of the target audience for this band, their sound and their latest album, "Prodigious Images".

Imagine if you took the distorted hellhole that is most Black Metal, then you take the distorted hellhole that is Sludge, and then you play it like a distorted and badly produced Doom Metal album, on top of overly distorted vocals that really only screeches (not growls, not grunts, not screams and not sings, but screeches - and not in that cool Black Metal way, might I add), and you've got MOSEGRODD on their 4^th album "Prodigious Images". Now, before I go into further detail why I genuinely dislike this album, I would like to note in MOSEGRODD's favor that this is their 4^th album in 3 years, which is actually an impressive feat regardless of what I think of the quality of the albums they've released, and that this is both their best album song-wise and, by far, production-wise. So that's something.

Sadly that means absolutely nothing, because the three albums preceding "Prodigious Images" were little more than demos - hell they might've been demos, I'm honestly not sure - and they sure weren't of the impressive kind. Or well, they were in the one regard that they were actually relatively heavily Progressive and even Avant-Garde, which was a redeeming factor since the core music was horrid. But on "Prodigious Images" they seem to have just about annihilated all Avant-Garde influences and left only hollow shells of Progressive touches. In turn, they've boosted up their production to what would have been acceptable if it weren't for the distorted mess they seem to enjoy, and gone for a more focused (hence I guess the lack of Avant-Garde) sound and song structure. I'd say it pays off overall both for the individual songs and for the album overall, but the core issue is that it's only relative to its predecessors that it stands out as anything but a distorted Sludge-fest. And a really big thing that is lacking here is the Black Metal, because there's just not enough genuine, enraged, demonic Black Metal here to offset the tremendous slow of the Sludge and Doom, making the whole album just feel so slow. And don't get me wrong, there are tons of amazing slow albums out there, but this one isn't just slow - it's boringly slow, even when it's blasting, so there's just no redemption to be found as far as I'm concerned.

Once again, I really need to get this through: I'm not the target audience of MOSEGRODD's "Prodigious Images". I'm the furthest thing from it being the Melodic Metal lover that I am, and as such there's just no way I could ever enjoy this album. But I do think this is a step up from their previous releases - even though the Avant-Garde and more definitive Progressive touches will be dearly missed - and it's very possible this is actually a great Sludge album that I just can't enjoy. Given this, I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt and say it has potential to be something I could like. That being said, I don't think MOSEGRODD is going to give a damn about what I do or don't like, and they probably shouldn't.

If you like Sludge with some Black Metal blasts here and there built on a whole lot of distortion, this might be for you - but it sure as hell ain't for me.