Moss Upon The Skull – Quest For The Secret Fire Review

Brussels’ Moss Upon the Skull hit the nail pretty much right on the head with their debut full length In Vengeful Reverence in 2018. Their proggy, techy form of death metal wasn’t what you’d typically expect from proggy, techy death metal. The guitar gain was turned way down to help focus on the riff spryness of it all, there was a heavy focus on vocals and personality, and the influences stretched wider than your classic Deaths and Atheists (although you could definitely hear plenty of Death and Atheist). It was extremely busy, a touch strange, rather unique, and most importantly, wicked good.

It takes sophomore long player Quest For The Secret Fire all of about 30 seconds to quash any fears of a letdown. Moss Upon the Skull made the smart decision to not mess with the formula all that much, because when you’ve found a vibe that is truly you, lean into it. In their case, that formula includes plenty of, yes, Death with a capital D (Human and after), a ton of The Chasm’s melodic vortex of thrashy death, touches of Ved Buens Ende’s warbly weirdness and Voivod’s beautiful nerdiness, and a keen balance between meticulously crafting every detail and ensuring things still sound quite natural and jammed out. In the latter sense, there’s a philosophical kinship here with someone like Hammers of Misfortune, even if the two bands’ sounds are obviously very far apart. But that balance is unmistakable, and something that requires more than your base level of techy talent.

One thing that is key to the album’s success is that Moss Upon the Skull didn’t cave and go with a more standard death metal production. Yes, they increased the gain a little, but not nearly to the point that any of the fretboard litheness is lost in the literal mix. Jef Van de Weghe’s riffing still carries that Satan-level quality that just dares you to try and play it, whether he’s hitting a fun 8th/16th pattern, splicing in tiny touches of dissonance, or showing off his nimble fingers during any of the more melodic, thrashy parts. When combined with lots of variety in tempo and rhythm, you get an album that ranges from the ultra hefty (the peak-weight-Morbid Angelness in “Paths Towards Chrysopoeia Pt. I”) and the haunted and doomy (“Initiation to the Extracorporeal Odyssey”) to the downright rockin’ (pinch harmonic squeals in the lengthy title track). With the extra bonus of some serious charisma and rhythmic fun in the vocals and absolutely tip-top drumming, the band arrives at a sound that has a rather unique character but also ought to be pretty widely appealing.

Another key aspect is something we’ll simply call The Busy Factor. Quest For The Secret Fire, like its predecessor, never stops moving. Something interesting is always happening, and the band uses its small-but-constant shifts to both react to and lead the song structures. For example, the closing passages of “Heretical Experiments in the Subterranean Citadel” see a riff cycle repeated while the drumming and subtle use of keyboards take care of the dynamics. It’s a very effective approach that adds a fair amount of tension to the end of the song. A similar approach is used over some very Death-ish riffs in “Reprisal from the Deep,” when drummer Jense Philips further proves his freak skills through hi-hat fun, blasts, snare-pounding drives, and the rest of the imaginable toolkit.

Meanwhile, a track like “Woe to the Goldmakers (Paths Towards Chrysopoeia Pt. II)” seems to use the band’s inherent chemistry to shape its direction. A little shuffle here, a shreddy, narrative solo there, and great, rapid fire vocals all over the place. But the foundations of such passages, while all really great, are no more important than how they’re all glued together. The tiniest variations by one band member often set up the shifts before they happen, or provide echoes to passages that have already passed. It’s a constantly neat trick that wouldn’t work unless each member of the band was as talented as they are comfortable with their bandmates’ abilities. Chemistry counts.

Basically, this band and album are here to satisfy your need for both brainy material and all the fun you typically require from death metal. Quest For The Secret Fire builds upon and expands the wins of In Vengeful Reverence, thrilling and perplexing in equal measure. You might recognize a lot of the ingredients, but Moss Upon the Skull’s personality is all their own, and the results ought to please many a fan of all things twisted, proggy, and techy.