Mgła

Mgła ([mɡwa]; English: "Fog") is a Polish black metal band from Kraków, formed in 2000. The duo consists of vocalist, guitarist and bassist M. (Mikołaj Żentara) and drummer Darkside (Maciej Kowalski).

For the Russian village, see Mgla.
Mgła
Mgła performing in 2019
Mgła performing in 2019
Background information
OriginKraków, Poland
GenresBlack metal[1]
Years active2000–present
LabelsNorthern Heritage Records
No Solace
Malignant Voices
Garazel Productions
Todeskult
MembersM.
Darkside
Past membersDaren
Websiteno-solace.bandcamp.com
Logo

The band has released four albums and began performing live in 2012, featuring a touring guitarist and bassist.

History

Initially founded as a studio project in 2000 in Kraków by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mikołaj "M." Żentara with the collaboration of drummer Dariusz "Daren" Piper, both originally from the band Kriegsmaschine.[2] Together, the duo recorded two unreleased demos, their first 2 EPs and a split album Crushing the Holy Trinity with the bands Deathspell Omega, Clandestine Blaze, Exordium and Musta Surma.[3] Daren left the band in 2006 and was replaced by Maciej "Darkside" Kowalski. The band signed to Northern Heritage Records in 2008 and released their debut album Groza in that same year. Mgła has been signed to Northern Heritage ever since.

In 2012, after the release of their second album With Hearts Toward None, the band played its first concerts. Mgła's first live lineup included guitarist Silencer from the band Medico Peste and bassist The Fall. According to M., the live lineup rehearsed for over a year before hitting the road.[4] In 2015, Silencer left the live band and was replaced by E.V.T., also from Medico Peste. Mgła's third album Exercises in Futility was released in 2015 as well, and the band embarked on their inaugural North American tour; its first show in the United States was on 6 November in New York City's Saint Vitus.[5][6]

That year, M. and Darkside created the No Solace label, named after Żentara's music studio, which releases music from Mgła, Kriegsmaschine and other projects.[7] In 2015 and 2016, the duo served as the backing band for several shows of the one-man black metal project Clandestine Blaze.[3]

Mgła's scheduled April 2019 shows in Munich and Berlin were abruptly cancelled after the German Antifa group Linkes Bündnis gegen Antisemitismus München (English: Left Alliance Against Anti-Semitism Munich) launched a campaign criticising Mgła for releasing albums on Northern Heritage, a label which also sells National Socialist black metal material, and also for Żentara's solo power electronics project Leichenhalle, whose 2000 album Judenfrei translates to "Free of Jews" in English. Mgła referred to the "smear campaign" as "false accusations of political nature", and announced a decision to take legal action for defamation.[8]

On 3 August 2019, the band revealed their fourth album's title, Age of Excuse, and released the lead single "Age of Excuse II".[9] The album came out on 2 September. Mgła's first Latin America tour was cut short in March 2020 after seven shows because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] The band resumed touring in late 2021. After playing 80 shows in 30 countries throughout 2022, Mgła announced in December that live concerts would be placed "on hold" in order for the band to focus on entering the studio.

Members
Current
  • M. (Mikołaj Żentara) – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, bass (studio only), lead guitar (studio only) (2000–present)
  • Darkside (Maciej Kowalski) – drums, percussion (2006–present)
Former
  • Daren (Dariusz Piper) – drums, percussion (2000–2006)

Live musicians
Current
  • The Fall (Michał "ShellShocked" Stępień) – bass, backing vocals (2012–present)
  • E.V.T. (Piotr Dziemski) – lead guitar, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former
  • Silencer/Lazarus – lead guitar, backing vocals (2012–2015)

Discography

Studio albums

EPs
  • Presence (2006)
  • Mdłości (2006)
  • Further Down the Nest (2007)

Compilation albums
  • Mdłości + Further Down the Nest (2007)
  • Presence / Power and Will (2013)

Split albums

Unreleased demos
  • Northwards (2000)
  • Necrotic (2001)

References
  1. Stosuy, Brandon (21 December 2015). "The Best Metal Albums of 2015". Pitchfork. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  2. "Mgła | Życie i twórczość | Artysta". Culture.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  3. "Clandestine Blaze / Northern Heritage interview". Bardo Methodology. 2017-05-16. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  4. "Mgła - Metal Storm". www.metalstorm.net. Retrieved 2018-05-07.
  5. Kelly, Kim (2015-08-29). "Hey Black Metal Fans, You're Welcome: Mgla's 'Exercises in Futility' Is Now Streaming in Its Entirety". Vice. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  6. Sperry-Fromm, Rob (2015-10-06). "Mgla streaming new album 'Exercises In Futility,' touring, playing NYC's Martyrdoom Fest". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  7. "No Solace". No Solace.
  8. Staff, BrooklynVegan (2019-05-01). "Mgla deny racism accusations, give statement on show cancellations". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  9. ""Age of excuse", the fourth full-length album of Mgła is coming soon". Facebook. August 3, 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  10. "Mgła - Not unexpectedly in the current situation, after playing 7 out of 12 scheduled performances we are forced to postpone the Mexican dates of the March Latin America tour "Age of Excuse"..." www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  11. "Sound of Records - Mgła - Groza - CD". www.soundofrecords.com. Retrieved 2018-05-07.
  12. "With hearts toward none LP 2012, by Mgła". Mgła. Retrieved 2018-05-07.
  13. "Mgła - Third full lentgh album of Mgła, "Exercises in... | Facebook". 2018-05-07. Archived from the original on 2018-05-07. Retrieved 2018-05-07.
  14. "Mgła - Fourth full lentgh album of Mgła, "Age of Excuse" Facebook". Facebook. 2019-09-02. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
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