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Mekong Delta: In a mirror darkly
16/05/14 || gk
Mekong Delta is one of those heavy metal bands that just don’t give up. Formed back in 1985, the band has released a few stand out albums of complex, progressive heavy metal with a thrash bent with “The music of Eric Zahn” and “The principle of doubt” standing out in particular for me. They went on a 10 year hiatus around the mid 90s but returned with the very impressive “Lurking fear” in 2007. A couple of indifferent albums followed and now in 2014, the band now almost 30 years old is releasing it’s 11th studio album “In a mirror darkly”.
The first thing that comes to mind is that the album cover is pretty fucking atrocious. Poor photo shop skills, a terrible colour scheme and a pretty lame album name really did not build confidence in “In a mirror darkly”. Luckily, the music is a whole different story. The album opens with “Introduction + Ouverture”. A complex, thrashy instrumental journey, the song is melodic and heavy and displays some intricate riffing and starts proceedings with a fair amount of promise.
That promise is fully realized on the next there songs. “The armageddon machine” is vintage Delta with a solid thrash riff at its heart, “The sliver in god’s eye” is a slow burning quasi ballad that lets the band explore more melodic and traditional song writing while the superb Janus is the highlight of the album for me and combines some progressive song writing with a strong vocal performance and some quirky keyboard lines that gives the song its own peculiar identity. “Inside the outside of the inside” is the only misstep here being an over long and slightly self indulgent instrumental but then “Hindsight bias” and “Mutant messiah” close out the album in fine style with “Mutant messiah” in particular harking back slightly to the band’s slightly more manic and aggressive past.
Mekong Delta are a bunch of amazing musicians and there’s no doubting that. What makes “In a mirror darkly” impressive though is that these songs really come together and are for the most part equal parts intricate, progressive and maintain just the right balance between pomp and heaviness. Vocalist Martin LeMar turns in his most effective performance yet and shows impressive control over the lower registers on the superb “The sliver in god’s eye” but his overall singing style over the band’s often technical riffing might put some people off. Also, with 7 songs clocking in at just under 45 minutes, this is just the perfect length and there’s very little fat on “In a mirror darkly”.
Sole surviving member and founder Ralph Hubert has put together a solid collection of songs here and the band is in top form right through the album. I just wish they’d got a better album cover because this music deserves better presentation. I don’t think there’s going to be much of a middle ground here with this album. If you’re a fan of the band, then “In a mirror darkly” should be right up your alley. If you’ve never heard of Mekong Delta before but like progressive thrashy metal then you’d do well to check this out. Overall, “In a mirror darkly” is a pleasant surprise and a really solid collection of songs.
- Information
- Released: 2014
- Label: Steamhammer
- Website: Mekong Delta Facebook
- Band
- Martin LeMar: vocals
- Erik Adam H. Grösch: guitars
- Ralph Hubert: bass
- Alex Landenburg: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Introduction + Ovuerture
- 02. The Armageddon Machine
- 03. The Sliver in God’s Eye
- 04. Janus
- 05. Inside the Outside of the Inside
- 06. Hindsight Bias
- 07. Mutant Messiah
