Metal Reviews

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Thank god this band exists. I must admit, though, I've listened to very little of their material. Would this be a good starting point, or should I go with one of their older albums?

Go with The Music of Erich Zann first...

Yes, or the self titled debut. Both are awesome, with The Music of Erich Zann being just a little moreso.

i love the riffing on here, but sadly the vocals make it really unpleasant to listen to

that was my thoughts too... It sounds awful... But the riffing was awesome.

I don't know, I'm digging the vocals. Layered chorals plus the power metal, with the spookyoreverb filter may wear on me eventually, but for now it's like audio cotton candy.

Really, it is very reminiscent of early 90s progressive thrash--sorta like Voivod raped poor little Helstar--but it's not like anyone else is doing that worth a damn nowadays.

Nice stuff, though. Wish I'd known about them back in the day.

When I first picked this up, I agreed. The vocals seemed to float somewhere above the music instead of cohesively joining with it.

But as I listened to it 3, 4, 5 times....something magical happened. The vocal melodies became vitally important to my enjoyment of the songs.

I think if you give this album enough time, the vocals really do agree with you a lot more. Especially if you've heard their classic albums, you need some time to adjust but its all worth it in the end.

Or "Dances Of Death"

Anyway this album was the best thrash release of last year IMO, i give it a solid 85, and i have to disagree with most of you but i think the voclas fit well with the album.

Yeah, I think people are getting carried away calling the vocals awful and whatnot. Leo's a good singer, I just don't think his vocals on this album fit as well as they would have had he been more involved in the writing process from the start. I would be willing to bet they will sound much better if another album comes out with this same lineup.

His vocals are kind of a love or hate thing... I see why some people don't like it at all though...

This album was the first time I heard Mekong Delta, and I love it, although the sound of it I think could be way better. I shall definitely be looking into their older stuff now.

Did they seriously name an album The Music of Erich Zann? That is possibly the most gloriously delicious thing I've ever heard. They deserve to be listened to.

Do it, it's gonna change your view of thrash metal.

Yeah, they're big on Lovecraft.

I was reading the lyrics and it's a bit marred by the non-native English, but I'm not a lyrics guy anyway. I'll give them a shot. I'm not the biggest thrash fan but I like a few bands.

First of all Adam, thanks for this review! This band needs a lot more exposure (and to anyone wondering, go with The Music of Erich Zann or Dances of Death first- Dances of Death is probably more accessible). I do think it deserves a higher score- I think the element of "thrown togetherness" that you criticize in your review is pretty much a staple of the Mekong Delta sound- I mean, just listen to most songs off the Music of Erich Zann and it always feels like something doesn't quite fit, which I think is intentional as it creates a feeling of weirdness in the listener. I think that this album is very well done in that respect.

As for the vocalist- its the same with any Delta album (particularly the early ones). Their vocalists always sound weird and aren't necessarily technically good (though I think Doug Lee at points was an exception to that) and its all just part of the experience of the band. While the vocals on this album aren't phenomenal or anything, I thought they fit pretty well in with the music.

Anyway, this was my favourite thrash album of 2007, and I give it an 87/100, and I really hope that these guys continue in their succesful comeback.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I guess when I listen to The Music of Erich Zann the weirdness doesn't bother me because it still sounds focused somehow. I just didn't get that feeling on Lurking Fear for reasons that I can't explain well. I still like the album, a lot actually. I just think they will sound much better next time out when they can all work together from the beginning.

I downloaded The Music of Erich Zann, but the production is awful. Worse than most thrash. Hell, this is worse than black metal; I can't really hear anything. Should I track down a CD, or is that really what it sounds like?

EDIT: Nevermind, it's not as bad as I thought it was. Trebley as all fuck, but this is pretty decent thrash metal. I'll call back when I've heard the whole thing. foobar2000's Noise Sharpening plug-in does a world of good for this album.

It didn't do much for me, but Interludium will become a staple of my music listening. They're some of the best thrash metal I've heard, but thrash always leaves me feeling empty and unaffected. Like eating a million tootsie rolls.

Decent thrash metal? WOW. More like revolutionary thrash metal, really before listening to that album my opinion on thrash metal wasn't very positive.