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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
3rd on my best of 2006 list, March 15, 2007
Yet another band that refuses to be classified, Madder Mortem is a female fronted group from Norway with the most kick butt female singer in metal today, Agnete Kirkevaag.
Agnete is an alto with a vocal range that cannot belong to anyone who is a mere mortal. Sometimes compared to Grace Slick stylistically, Agnete's ability, range and power surpass the justification for comparison. Unlike the fluffy sopranos present in so many orchestral and gothic metal outfits, Agnete testifies against type with pure raw power, and she does it with style and terrific pitch.
I first fell in love with their 2003 album "Deadlands", and when I initially gave "Desiderata" a spin I didn't like it quite as well. As is usual with my favorite albums however, this one grew on me to such an extent that I now have to say I like it even better than the last one. So much so, that it now has the number 3 spot on my list.
The album begins with the pounding post punk statement "My Name is Silence", which finds Agnete belting it out to some beautiful downtuned and dissonant guitar slams. The chorus of this song has an almost sing-along quality, except for the fact that Agnete jumps an octave in the middle of a line. Leaves us mortals with our "normal" vocal chords feeling very insufficient. She softens it up a bit in the second song "Evasions" a builder that ends with a crashing climax. Agnete illustrates that she is comfortable with pianissimo as well, and demonstrates a beautiful soft alto in "Distopia", dark and moody "Cold Stone", death/goth styled "M for Malice", darkwave ballad "The Flood to Come" as dark guitar rhythms chug away in the background. There are some songs on this album here that riff in an almost nu-metal headbanger style. A good example of this is the intro to the seventh track "Changeling". Fortunately, this is only a small part of the whole, which finds a very eclectic Opeth-like blending of styles within the composition. None of the songs on the album really go where you expect, taking strange twists and turns through dark alleys and unexplored passages. The albums final track "Hangman" is a bluesy waltz that builds into a dissonant cacophony of pounding guitars, with probably the most raw and emotional vocal performance to be found this year, by male OR female vocalist.
The overall sound is dark, atmospheric, gothic, mysterious. The musicians mesh perfectly with each other. The guitars and bass blend beautifully with the sensitively played drums. The Drummer deserves special props for handling transitions and the changing dynamics with such delicacy. Of all the female fronted bands in metal, or even in popular music, this one deserves so much more recognition.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Desiderata, January 6, 2007
Madder Mortem were, at one point, a gothic metal band with doomy tendencies... and a damn good one. While some semblance of that might still be found on Desiderata if one were to listen hard enough, the band has - for better or worse - sacrificed the whole idea in lieu of a faster, heavier, and more metallic deal. Fortunately, this has mostly worked out in their favor. Massive emphasis has been placed on mood shifts and dynamics, and the songwriting has taken a turn to the progressive end of the spectrum, making for a considerably diverse and satisfying listen.
For those thinking that Madder Mortem have turned to writing 20 minute songs with extended solo jams and synthesizer wars - fear not. Though the presentation has become somewhat more upbeat and the arrangements have gotten more complex, the atmosphere remains quite dark and the band doesn't rely on any kind of instrumental wizardry to impress the listener so much as they employ driving riffs, pounding drums, prominent bass lines, and a magnificent sense of pathos to simply crush the listener underneath waves of pure energy. That isn't to say that there's nothing impressive from an instrumental standpoint here - the playing is quite accomplished, and the drums especially deserve special mention. The guy knows how to keep a song flowing while maintaining an expansive sense of dynamics and changing up the rhythmic backbone enough to keep the mood from stagnating. The guitars are riff-heavy, and the riffs are deep, brooding, and focus more on impact than speed. The production complements all of this incredibly well - the sound is bottom-heavy, warm, and all instruments have plenty of room to breathe.
Stylistically, the album takes various twists and turns between songs, and often within songs... it's rare that the listener ends in quite the same place where he began. The almost punk'ish opener "My Name is Silence"; the vocal-centric and haunting "Dystopia"; the gloomy, at times nightmarish, at times dreamy instability of "Changeling"; the atmospheric darkwave feel of "Cold Stone" which transforms halfway through into a hypnotic tribal anthem; or the rather epic feel of the title track... it's a ride.
Of particular note are the vocals of Agnete Kirkevaag. While she isn't quite endowed with angelic chords the likes of, say, Floor Jansen, she more than makes up for it with sheer emotional power and empathy. Her whispers instill fear and doubt, her screams reek of lunacy, and her soft singing is warm and welcoming. There are several moments where her voice seems to hit a breaking point, and it is these moments that add the most power to the music. More specifically, her performance on the closing track "Hangman", where the listener is given a taste of what's probably one of the most sincere explosions of unbridled emotion I've ever heard out of a vocalist. Intense moment, indeed.
This definitely is not an album to be missed for those who enjoy female-fronted metal.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Forget anything else you know, May 24, 2006
I used to listen to Lacuna Coil religiously, and thought they they were the premeire goth female-fronted band out there...not even close. Do yourself a favor, and pick up Madder Mortems "Deadlands" album, listen to it 200 times until nothing else comapres, then do yourself the favor of picking up "Desiderta" They both make every other female fronted/doom metal band sound like a joke, and will only ruin the expreience when listening to any other metal album. In a class of their own, ladies and gentleman...BUY MADDER MORTEM!!!!
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