MDXX are a mysterious quartet spearheaded by the mastermind behind them who is known simply as V, the other members being A, C and T. Influenced by recent years filled with death and despair, V created a world which mirrored this and from it, brought us the stories outlined in the music of MDXX’s debut full-length album. With an apocalyptic lyrical theme, classic 80s heavy metal and doom sounds backing it and a runtime of just under 40 minutes, let’s see what is on offer.
Overall, the album is musically cohesive. It has just the right blend of Saint Vitus inspired doomy vibes to your typical moderately paced classic heavy metal. Harmonies, big leads, off-key vocals and some catchy hooks here and there all point towards something I should find myself enjoying and engrossed in, but at the same time there is just something wrong with how it sounds, kind of like a watered down and cheap imitation of Ghost trying to play Blind Guardian.
To expand on this, you only need to listen to the opening track ‘Gasbreather’ to understand what I mean. It’s atmospheric with its synth/string intro accompanied by a brief lead flourish before the cutting riffs come in. So far it works well, it has that hook and sharp edge, it has some good guitar harmonies and the verse is all set… then the vocals hit. A common theme of classic 80’s heavy metal is that for every one band who had a vocalist who could sing, you had dozens who couldn’t; they were perpetually out of key. MDXX would fall firmly into this out of key category. The vocals just sound so jarring to the music behind them and if you were to ignore the doomy elements in the lyrical themes or the subtle atmospheric changes within the tracks, they would be totally out of place… but for some reason, this jarring off-key sound somehow works and fits the track.
It is extremely hard to get my head around, a prominent feature of a band’s sound seems wrong and out of place but at the same time it is passable and somehow works for the sound MDXX are going for. This doesn’t necessarily make it good though; the subsequent tracks of the album minus the spoken word lore/narrative interlude all have the same problems. Killer classic heavy metal riffs with jarring vocals which don’t sit well. Like I said before, on paper I should enjoy this album but honestly it is just underwhelming in its execution. For each great melodic riff and harmony there is a lazy vocal line. For every killer drum fill there is that jarring out of key vocal lingering. No matter what, the vocals just don’t feel right despite everything fitting together compositionally.
There isn’t much more to say really. Give MDXX a chance and see for yourself. They aren’t terrible, the ideas are good and the atmosphere of the music works for the most part. The instrumental work is solid and would work well with any other singer or vocal styling… just not the one MDXX have chosen to use!
(5/10 Fraggle)
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