After 2017’s attention grabbing, self titled release, Mannheim power trio Old Mother Hell are back once more to bring us more of their Traditional Teutonic Heavy Metal stylings Ronald (bass), Bernd (guitar/vocals) and Michael (drums) cooked up the base material and lyrics for this release long before the world started going to shit at a quicker rate than what it was originally, and in early 2020, they captured these ideas by going into the studio and recording “Lord Of Demise” live – all three members in the same room at the same time, playing the tracks and capturing the end result – an album which has that studio refinement most releases end up with, but feels alive, more energetic and has a quality to the sound which is extremely hard to replicate when piecing layers and mixing things together. The press release accompanying this album is enthusiastic about this 8 track release, putting it over as the work of the ultimate purveyors of real, handmade metal. Having recently given their debut a few listens recently, I am enthusiastic as I had given it high praise in my take on it, and to be honest, it’s a straight up heavy metal album from a straight up heavy metal band… Is there any more reason needed to be bubbling with excitement and anticipation?
So bend a knee, bow your head and pay tribute to the Lord Of Demise with me!
As mentioned last time I spoke about Old Mother Hell, they are straight up, traditional Heavy Metal and the opening track “Betrayal At The Sea” simply reinforces this statement. Rhythmically tight, vocally strong and atmospherically charged, the opening salvo of surging riffs bring with them a tense and theatrical feel which is sparked to life by a huge vocal wail loaded with power and 80’s metal dramatics! The best way to describe the sound of the band on this track and the rest of the release is Grand Magus meets 80’s NWOBHM – powerful and anthemic from start to finish. Simple riffs and catchy melodic lead sequences are loaded with a gripping feel which shows how Old Mother Hell take simple compositions and deliver them with a massive impact.
“Avenging Angel” is a solid, no nonsense groove track which is gritty, raw, dark and empowering in lyrical content, delivery and feel. The foot-stompin’ drum beat backs up the chugged chords and thumping bass and the variety comes from the myriad of fills thrown in on the skins. Melodic leads are simple but help provide points where the track pivots from headbanging rhythm to big lead and the lyrical content paints a gritty tale of betrayal and revenge, it’s uplifting pre-chorus providing the moments of fist in the air power and a sense that rights can and will be wronged! Title track “Lord Of Demise” is again foreboding and ominous with its delivery and theme, focusing on the slower pace to add some big weight to the chord strikes and powerful vocals. With its pseudo-Sabbathian riffing and thundering drums, the heaviness present in this track is there for all to hear and feel and transitions to faster paced sections work well, adding that brief jolt of adrenaline where needed.
“Estranged” and “Edge Of Time” are two back to back tracks which have a rather bleak look on the future of humanity and how nature can thrive without our species ruining everything. Both are rather accurate in their lyrical depictions of society as a whole and the nihilism on display is delivered in a thought provoking way. Musically, “Estranged” has an ominous clean build which shifts right into a classic pseudo-thrash feel with its tightly controlled rhythmic chugging and brisk pace. Vocally, the feeling present in the delivery is tremendous – you can actually feel the emotion in the lyrics from the powerful delivery and it will make you sit and think. “Edge Of Time” is more traditional heavy metal/power metal orientated with its surging gallop rhythms and infectious vocal melodies. It draws out the urge to headbang and to raise your fist in the air whilst singing along to the catchy vocal hooks in the chorus sections. Thematically, both songs fit the current state of the world in all its madness and once again, the straight forward delivery helps get the message the songs are trying to get across, something Old Mother Hell excel at!
The final trio of tracks on the release are started off with arguably the best track on the album; “Shadows Within”. This is a phenomenal heavy metal track. A surging pace with a razor-sharp edge to the riffs and a gripping narrative conveyed in the vocals, it screams classic and traditional metal in the modern age and it is glorious. The rhythm section is spot on, a solid bass, a tightly controlled chugging guitar and the thundering drums with their nimble fills and pounding crashes provide the electrifying music which backs up some phenomenal vocal lines. This is a track which will go down well once the live music scene is reborn, guaranteed to get people singing, headbanging and caught up on its hooks. “Another Fallen Saviour” shifts things back in terms of speed, going for the slower approach again with massive chords and subtle melodic shifts in the progressions, much like the title track. It acts as a good shift from the higher intensity trio of tracks which precedes it and the steady, rhythmic pounding of pseudo-Sabbathian flair brings the more controlled raw power back to the forefront of the musical focus. Closing number “Finally Free” opens up with some simple arpeggio work and big drum fills before it leads on to a moderately paced traditional Euro-Metal feel approach. Again, it has that classic 80’s heavy metal feel to the delivery and the raw power in the vocals is tremendous. Whilst not as stand-out as the mid-section of the release, it comes into its own with the solid mid-section; a run of ascending and descending chugs which slips to a clean guitar section which clearly rings out, mirroring the expressive vocal display before it rips back to the classic, high-octane heavy metal offering which brings up the mental images of spandex, denim, leather, spiked gauntlets and posturing on stage. Its very Iron Maiden like in the mid-late section rhythmically and whilst its lead section isn’t a classic, soaring harmony loaded affair, it helps shift the pacing back to the steady and pounding delivery for the big climax of the release.
In all, “Lord Of Demise” is a fantastic metal album. It oozes power much like its predecessor and it continues bringing the classic heavy metal vibes once again. Raw and expressive vocals, catchy rhythmic hooks and some good, old-fashioned fist pumping riffs, what more could you want?
(9/10 Fraggle)
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