By Stephan Thiemann (Pandaimonium Records)
Formed in 1995, MVA first carves out a substantial place for itself within the Dark movement to set soon with its first album "Herbo Dou Diable" (1998) a baroque style, original and trenchant, alternation of neo-classical atmospheres, industrial percussions and strong death-rock songs with staggered rythmics.
The whole perfect cohesion wants to be suited to the story and convey the different narrator's feelings or moods. But the band, who likes to surprise and try out new perceptions, doesn't want to be caught in a static musical label trap. Without disowning its roots, MVA lets itself be carried along by its many musical, literary or films inspirations though.
"Organic But Not Mental" (2000) demonstrates this point very well in the way that it turns over a new leaf and gives up the first death-rock influences. Just like its title, it is punctuated with sounds reminding the human body's dull and tubular universe, electronic atmospheres of symphonic overtones, weird samples linked to the bodily phobias and distructured industrial songs.
Then, 2001 sees the birth of "Antechamber", a brand new project from MVA which takes advantage of this loophole. This album is certainly the most intimist; made of an aerial electronic's minimalism carried by more pared down and raw voices, it becomes fixed in a surrealist and oneiric landscape. The production, which sounded colors have been outlined in the precedent Lp, finds here a more visible feature not to say different.
February 2003 marked the release of their current album "Photography In Things” which had been described by the majority as a wonderful piece of musical art. They reached a point beyond any comparisms, a point where only the word "unique” comes in mind. Thoughtful stuctered songs about life in general and tiny little events.
This willingness to depicte through the sound a visual atmosphere reminds there again the predominant influence of a certain cinema genre in Morthem Vlade Arts work.
Not a long time passed since the release of their previous album "Photography In Things” : "it really depends but as we are completely involved in music/ creation and nothing else” say Morthem Vlade Art, "we have a lot of time to think about what we want to do exactly in an album and being organized. For “Absente Terebenthine”, we had more time again as we didn't go much on stage for "Photography In Things”, so we decided to go back to the studio for several months. We always live in the emergency of doing something, to express the more we could and being closer to the thoughts we have to express, work on it, understand and synthesise it. Always working, we need and love that. Step by step, we build an universe, this is a way to feel life inside us.”
Contrary to their previous albums, whose almost seemed to be a big break in their musical carreer, “Absente Terebenthine” is quite closed to "Photography In Things”: "Yes”, says Gregg, "also close to “Antechamber”, not really in the music that is more rock in “Antechamber”, but for us it's a kind of trilogy that's ending.
The last three albums were different from our very first works more dark, I mean visibly dark. Then we started to be more and more direct, less metaphorical. With “Antechamber” we become to free ourselves from art clichés, and now it seems we're a bit detached from things, still fighting against ourselves but more introspective. The funny thing is that we never felt so wild and alive”.
“Absente Terebenthine “ quite of a philosophical touched title, and yes, behind the translation: "turpentine absent" in English or "no turpentine" if you prefer, no thinner in the colour - a story is hidden: “The whole idea is to get something clear and rough, direct, even if the songs could be soft sometimes, it has nothing to do with that but only with the album entity. Something linked to the emergency of acting and feel things without losing any time. This choice is clearly linked to our own lives, our evolution, as if we were a bit tired of talking, as if the only thing important was to create a metaphorical universe, a bridge between us and the world as a "tube", no talks but thoughts throwing.”
But let’s talk about the music for a change: “Absente Terebenthine” is a mix between pop, electronica, eighties-like songs but always modern. Some atmospheres without sing complete the album but only one is really quiet and soft, the others contains some electricity flashes, rough. It's not as cold as “Photography In Things”, “Absente Terebenthine” is less melancholic, more "rock feeling" but synthetic and also more like a block. And, before some reviewers might complain about a certain parallelity to a certain well known artist: “I like the crooner voices as Bowie,” says Gregg, ”Scott Walker or Ferry. I like distortion between the atmosphere of a voice and the atmosphere in the music, smooth voice, harsh sounds, strong voice, smooth rhythms, I like clashes, non-evident relationships. I can sing in different ways but it's true, it is often related to Bowie. I can't do anything about it” And why should he?
Musically spoken the later MORTHEM VLADE ART sound less harsh, less aggressive, but that feeling just stepped a bit behind: “Now, ”says the band, “only the way to tell things has changed. The violence can be red and evident but also cold as it is now. Not a physical violence but a burning one in veins. Only the language has changed in fact. Today we're more and more naked, far from the body. We've never been a band with a message. We only talk about what we know and feel. We're not talking for a part of the population, always about introspection and really personal feelings. So the kind of aggression you talk about was into the music itself, now the violence is against us and turned into different modes, a violence for living, a search. Human nature is ambivalent and we always try to reflect trough the sounds what comes in mind so we use different elements to depict our moods. We have also a lot of influences mixed in our music, we're made of all of this, what we listen to, what we have listened to, what we physically feel and what sound could fit to this feeling. It's a bit like a sound designer in a movie using anything else except the sound itself.”
In 2005 a compilation of their early works - recorded before "Herbo Dou Diable" was released. "Autopsy" featured some of their rarest tracks.
In the same year however, Gregg and Manue decided to end the band - to quit their musical path. To highlight that sad decision they decided to play one last live show - co headlining a festival in Luxembourg on November 26th 2005. A stunning performance which won't be forgotten by those who evidenced it.
In 2007 however a very last album was released - "Uncertain Days - The Best 1997 - 2005" - not just a plain Best Of, but a two CD set, with many unreleased mixes, versions and - once again - highly seeked songs for the first tme ever on CD.
Gregg is now working on his projects HNN
(http://www.facebook.com/pages/HNN/136850389694000)
and IN BROKEN ENGLISH (http://www.facebook.com/InBrokenEnglish)
