The Meads Of Asphodel / Mayhem - Jihad review
| Band: | The Meads Of Asphodel / Mayhem |
| Album: | Jihad |
| Style: | Experimental black metal |
| Release date: | 2002 |
| Guest review by: | tallha.gillani |
The Meads Of Asphodel
01. Intro
02. Jihad: The Grisly Din Of Killing Steel
03. Paradise
04. Another God In Another Place
05. Tanks In The Holy Land
06. Assassins Of Allah
Mayhem
07. Freezing Moon
08. Carnage
The Meads of Asphodel is an unconventional black metal band with few elements of folk metal and punk; overall their music is categorized as experimental, medieval, black metal. Jihad is by far their better release as it's a split with legendary Norwegian band Mayhem.
There are only 2 good songs by Meads of Asphodel in this entire album and the rest of the songs are boring and are highly under influence of Bollywood music which makes them almost crap. Mayhem has added only 2 songs in this album and their 2 songs have more impact than all the songs combined by Mead of Asphodel.
I do not consider their music black metal because there's nothing black about their music except the harsh vocals which are pretty average. The lyrics are childish, they don't even understand the real meaning of Jihad, which mean "To fight in the name of Allah" so according to the name there should have been lots of powerful and emotional music but almost all of their songs lack the punch. The riffs are mild and boring; the drumming is average and neither the drums nor the guitars have enough speed necessary for black metal; the keyboards have been played in an Indian cinematic way most of the time. The atmosphere sounds fake; overall this album is a joke in the name of both "Jihad" and "Black Metal."
"Assassins of Allah" is the best song by Meads of Asphodel, it is a very catchy song, this is the only song where everything is almost perfect for this song to be considered extreme material: very good riffs; good vocals; sufficiently good keyboards and drums. The only song that is worth checking out is "Jihad - The Grisly Din of Killing Steel," it is something different and has some catchiness and some famous Arabic verses.
This is the sort of extreme music that only metalcore and nu metal fans can like, the purists will despise this album; fans of Indian cinematic music will find this very refreshing. The overall music is very easy listening and therefore I won't be surprised if this album gets a good rating among the common crowd.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by tallha.gillani | 11.01.2008
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 17
Visited by: 95 users
| GT Coffee!! Staff Posts: 5101  |
If your goal with this review was to keep the reader away from this album you succeeded  The review was pretty well written though, just too bad the album was bad
----  Dreams are made so we don't get bored when we sleep
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| tallha.gillani Account deleted |
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by [user id=26570] on 15.01.2008 at 18:12  you were disappointed and yet rate it a 7.7?Either this is the most objective rating ever, or you think 7.7 is low.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| tallha.gillani Account deleted |
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| Damnated Churchburner Posts: 4943  |
Written by [user id=26570] on 15.01.2008 at 18:12 these guest reviews are getting better by the day. you called them unconventional black metal in the review's first sentence, and now you don't think they are black metal? lol.
---- Blessed is he that murders Christ in himself and in his fellow men.  Written by TheBigRossowski on 10.02.2009 at 16:01
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
apparently the Meads or their record company didn't have official permission from Mayhem to use the songs as a split.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| totaliteraliter Posts: 656  |
Written by [user id=26570] on 15.01.2008 at 18:12 I think you misunderstood what this album is about; you should perhaps have looked into it a bit more deeply rather than going by your odd preconception of what Jihad as a concept means. The lyrics are always a strong point of this band, here their usual combination of humour and religious/political/historical commentary are in full effect. What is childish about making connections between traditional Abrahamic religious stories and their parallels in modern occurrences like 9/11? Or discussing the theological contradictions and tug-of-war in a modern pluralistic/globalist world? The towers of Babel fell as one Flesh and stone explode The debris of Eden for all to gloat God's paradise unveiled ... Wanderer, prophet man Killed by fear in a conquered land Crowned with thorns and nailed up high Did you want be a star in a sky full of shit? For a band with such depth, it's pretty unfair to say they don't understand the "real" meaning of Jihad. Written by [user id=26570] on 15.01.2008 at 18:12 Interesting interpretation considering this is a Hawkwind song... Written by [user id=26570] on 15.01.2008 at 18:12 Given that the musical roots of this record lie in black and traditional metal, and to a lesser extent electronic music, I don't see much to do with metalcore/nu metal. You mention "bollywood", but not the other elements (such as the famous main theme from "O Fortuna") that are used to create some of the band's trademark audio collages where bible verses meet modern propaganda tapes meet clips from current world leader speeches (etc.). This band is all about placing modernity within an often ironic and always moribund historical context. Conclusion: If you go into this band expecting "extreme" black metal, you aren't going to get it - it's that and a lot more, and it takes some time to figure out (which is what makes them one of the better bands around today).
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| AiwiAstwihad AiryanaKhvarenah Posts: 1421  |
Quote: If they didn't know the meaning of Jihad in depth, they wouldn't have been able to write a line like this: .... Of empty promises and empty lies ... false redeemer leading sheep to slaughter.... You have to be familiar with Islamic history and Mohammad's conflicts with his followers regarding battles.... And these ironic lines are obviously translations of some Quran verses: Thou shalt not kill or maim Unless god doth decree Thou shalt then do the same And kill humanity. as an instance of a below mediocre lyric about jihad see The kovenant_Jihad. I don't have the album yet, just listened to Jihad: The Grisly Din Of Killing Steel, but will surely give it a try as soon as i can find the full-album. Those Arabic lines in the middle of that song rule.  by creating a unique atmosphere.
---- You who will come to the surface
From the flood that's overwhelmed us and drowned us all Must think, when you speak of our weakness in times of darkness That you've not had to face
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| stygian Posts: 28  |
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| Solstafir! Posts: 75 |
Written by AiwiAstwihad on 06.04.2009 at 23:29 I respect your opinion, but I strongly disagree...presenting your own interpretation of jihad does not count as a fact, it is a perception, nothing more, nothing less...
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| Ellrohir Heaven Knight Posts: 8669  |
What...a release by TMOA i never heard about...have to fix it
---- My rest seems now calm and deep Finally I got my dead man sleep 
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| Diabolos Space For Rent! Posts: 1522  |
Written by Ellrohir on 28.09.2009 at 21:24 Imo it's their worst, but still worth checking out 
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| Ellrohir Heaven Knight Posts: 8669 |
I will sure let you know what were my impressions and feelings 
---- My rest seems now calm and deep Finally I got my dead man sleep
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| AiwiAstwihad AiryanaKhvarenah Posts: 1421 |
Written by Solstafir! on 28.09.2009 at 20:56 You don't want to get into the whole Defensive-war quibble, do you? I understand, of course not every Muslim has that radical invasive interpretation of Jihad, but lets be realist, a considerable number do, who unfortunately overshadow moderate Muslims...And are the trouble...
---- You who will come to the surface
From the flood that's overwhelmed us and drowned us all Must think, when you speak of our weakness in times of darkness That you've not had to face
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| Solstafir! Posts: 75 |
Written by AiwiAstwihad on 01.10.2009 at 11:45 Of course not, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and everybody has to respect that, so long as that does not hurt others... And I do agree about the radical muslim thing you pointed out, at the same time I would like to add that most of the media highlight these black sheeps as though all muslims are exemplary of this behaviour, as a practicing muslim I take strong objection to this kind of partiality... It seems out of place to discuss these issues here, but I had to...and no hard feelings, ?
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| AiwiAstwihad AiryanaKhvarenah Posts: 1421 |
Written by Solstafir! on 01.10.2009 at 13:47 yep, We've got a topic to discuss Islam: http://www.metalstorm.ee/forum/topic.php?topic_id=11164
---- You who will come to the surface
From the flood that's overwhelmed us and drowned us all Must think, when you speak of our weakness in times of darkness That you've not had to face
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| Solstafir! Posts: 75 |
Written by AiwiAstwihad on 01.10.2009 at 14:29 Thanx!
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