I’ve been a fan since I first heard these guys in ’92 and a friend gave me the first four albums, so I’m rather familiar with most of the material that’s been rerecorded for this album. After the first few listens I wasn’t really sure if I liked these versions. The most noticeable difference is Martin LeMar’s vocals. They just aren’t Keil’s (Wolfgang Borgmann) rather distinct wails or Doug Lee’s shrieks. Musically however, the current line-up is just as tight and fast as the original, and perhaps a little heavier to boot. But somehow the heavier deeper vocals actually suit the current music better than the higher vocals would. And yes I’ve re-listened to the originals and a rather notable difference is actually the quality of the recordings. 20+ years have brought about vast improvements in this area.
If you want a history of the band, I’m going to suggest the URL below, but in brief it’s the brainchild of bassist Ralf Hubert, who recorded under the pseudonym Björn Eklund, using musicians from other bands to create extremely technical progressive thrash metal and dabble in playing some classical songs to spice things up. Now owing to all members playing on the albums actually being in other bands, they couldn’t reveal their identities or play live. However 20 years on, Ralf reformed the band with a new line-up with the specific goal of being able to play live. He also decided he wanted to pay homage to the old tracks which fans get to hear now live, with studio versions. Hence this album.
They waste no time getting straight into the frantic speed of “The Cure”, where Benedikt Zimniak and Erik Grösch play their guitars with consummate agility and trade off the leads pretty much note for note, showing they too are virtuosos.
“Shades of Doom” is slightly slower, very slightly, but more flamboyant with its tempo and riff changes which put Alex Landenburg through his paces on the drums without him dropping a beat and airy fills to make certain there’s always a wall of sound assaulting your ears.
I love the way “Sphere Eclipse” builds up in intensity, only to come to a complete stop, and then carry on again at a blistering pace, only to stop once more but carry on subtly at half speed thereby giving Martin LeMar plenty of room to croon out the vocals.
The one track I’m not too familiar with is “The Healer” which is rather ballad like in its length and composition. It still flows effortlessly from verse to chorus and to the meandering leads. It’s songs like this that put them firmly in prog category, while their usual speed keeps them firmly bedded as thrash, as shown by “Innocent” where because the vocal melody is half the pace of the drums it allows LeMar to vary his range more without the need to slow down the guitar riff changes or snare battery.
“Memories of Tomorrow” is one of my favourite tracks from ‘The Music Of Erich Zann’ owing to the myriad of riffs and riff changes and layering of these riffs to make it almost a cacophony where you have to listen intently if you want to pick something out singly or just allow everything to wash over you in its aural goodness.
The song “Heroes Grief” is about Elric of Melniboné and commences with a rather relaxed bass solo by Ralf Hubert whom also played the original. The bass continues to drive throughout the song, cutting through the guitar and drums making for a headier and heavier melodic undercurrent to tow you along. While the pounding and popping bass on “Heartbeat” is rather appropriate as it thumps along.
The slightly raspy, almost black metal vocals employed on “Transgressor” are a nice contrast to the clean vocals also used thereon, giving it a nastier feel than the melodic vocals would accomplish on their own.
“Prophecy” is the perfect way to end this album. It’s filled with blisteringly paced leads to keep up with the rhythm and drum pounding, leaving you feel well and truly thrashed out once it’s all over.
So, as stated when I started out the review. I wasn’t sure whether I enjoyed this album, but after a dozen listens, it has well and truly grown on me. So if you’re a fan, it may take a while to sway you, but if this is your first encounter with Mekong Delta… then it’s a great place to start.
(7/10, Marco Gaminara)
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