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Madder Mortem - Deadlands review
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Reviewer:
8.5

66 users:
8.05
Band: Madder Mortem
Album: Deadlands
Style: Avantgarde metal, Gothic metal
Release date: October 21, 2002
Guest review by: angel.


01. Enter
02. Necropol Lit
03. Omnivore
04. Rust Cleansing
05. Faceless
06. Distance Will Save Us
07. Silverspine
08. Jigsaw (The Pattern & The Puzzle)
09. Deadlands
10. Resonatine
11. The Exile [2009 Re-release bonus]
12. Deadlands Revisited [2009 Re-release bonus]

Many bands prefer to have a female vocalist front their bands for the purposes of gaining more attentions and to sell more records; it simply happens a lot in the metal scene. But we are facing a very different female fronted band. Before I hear anything from Madder Mortem, I have just read that they play gothic atmospheric metal with some doomy sound in it. Therefore I was expecting to hear another mediocre sound of metal with a female singing just like all the others I have heard in similar bands.

The opposite of that is true, Madder Mortem contains a diamond: Agnete M.Kirkevaag. She is such a unique, fresh and innovative vocalist. In every song o this album I heard something new by her. But I should add that her vocals have improved on this album so much in comparison to their previous ones: she has added some more screams and harsher styles.

The instruments on this album are not playing the typical gothic metal you have always heard (in case you insist that Madder Mortem is gothic metal). Yes, there are songs on this album that have a very gloomy atmosphere but they don't have anything to do with the gothic female fronted metal you have heard before. They haven't exaggerated any of the instruments or vocals. You can hear catchy bass guitars as much as you can hear great guitar arpeggios or heavy rhythms or chunky rhythms; they knew how to keep the balance in the sounds.

Heavy rhythms, one of a kind of vocals, unique use of chords and arpeggios, impressive bass guitars, they all have mixed and turned into Madder Mortem: a female fronted progressive metal band with talents in adding atmospheric and jazzy tones to metal so they stand out among the other similar bands. I don't know how I should address the fans for this album, because this album cannot be grouped into a very certain genre, but if you're into progressive music with gloomy atmosphere in it, with a bit of a jazz blend and you'd like to hear some innovative female vocals, go for this one with haste!


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 9
Production: 9

Written by angel. | 10.03.2013




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

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Comments: 18   Visited by: 77 users
10.03.2013 - 13:12
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Good review
----
I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"

I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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10.03.2013 - 13:17
Fritillaria
Account deleted
Written by Bad English on 10.03.2013 at 13:12

Good review

Thanks
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10.03.2013 - 13:24
Monolithic
♠♠♠
In fact, I would prefer to skip the "pigeonholing" part. "Progressive gothic metal/rock with a touch of atmospheric gothic metal, coupled with the sounds our neighbour makes during the night.";D
Heaven knows how many tags we've invented so far.
Anyway, I'm here to say what a great review you've written here.

PS(mostly trivial talk): since you are a fan of Obscure Sphinx, another "Epic" female-fronted band you can check out the review I've done for AIR.
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10.03.2013 - 13:30
Fritillaria
Account deleted
Written by Monolithic on 10.03.2013 at 13:24

In fact, I would prefer to skip the "pigeonholing" part. "Progressive gothic metal/rock with a touch of atmospheric gothic metal, coupled with the sounds our neighbour makes during the night.";D
Heaven knows how many tags we've invented so far.
Anyway, I'm here to say what a great review you've written here.

PS(mostly trivial talk): since you are a fan of Obscure Sphinx, another "Epic" female-fronted band you can check out the review I've done for AIR.

well I don't agree at all, I never consider them "gothic".
Thanks anyway ,


and yeah I will.
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10.03.2013 - 13:33
Monolithic
♠♠♠
Written by [user id=130727] on 10.03.2013 at 13:30

Written by Monolithic on 10.03.2013 at 13:24

In fact, I would prefer to skip the "pigeonholing" part. "Progressive gothic metal/rock with a touch of atmospheric gothic metal, coupled with the sounds our neighbour makes during the night.";D
Heaven knows how many tags we've invented so far.
Anyway, I'm here to say what a great review you've written here.

PS(mostly trivial talk): since you are a fan of Obscure Sphinx, another "Epic" female-fronted band you can check out the review I've done for AIR.

well I don't agree at all, I never consider them "gothic".
Thanks anyway ,


and yeah I will.

No no I'm not trying to imply that they're gothic. I'm just saying it's pointless to go for a simple name when there's too much influence in one album.
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10.03.2013 - 13:39
Fritillaria
Account deleted
Alright I know what you mean, but you mentioned " gothic " above .
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10.03.2013 - 13:58
Monolithic
♠♠♠
Oh that was an example. I didn't find them to be "gothic" myself.
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10.03.2013 - 14:55
Rating: 9
R'Vannith
ghedengi
Elite
Great thing about this band is that they are difficult to categorise. And Agnete is one of the best vocalists out there I think.

Nice review, I agree with the "chunky rhythms" description. It sounds very chunky, also very groovy. And yes plenty of bass too!
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10.03.2013 - 15:12
Fritillaria
Account deleted
Written by R'Vannith on 10.03.2013 at 14:55

Great thing about this band is that they are difficult to categorise. And Agnete is one of the best vocalists out there I think.

Nice review, I agree with the "chunky rhythms" description. It sounds very chunky, also very groovy. And yes plenty of bass too!

well I agree it's not easy to put them into a certain genre.
Thanks What I noticed about this band is that their bass lines make their music more interesting, and rare musicians are capable of that.
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10.03.2013 - 18:01
Fredd
Account deleted
Your first review. Always so special :3
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10.03.2013 - 18:52
Fritillaria
Account deleted
Written by [user id=114127] on 10.03.2013 at 18:01

Your first review. Always so special :3

Thank you
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10.03.2013 - 20:35
CyberSymphony
Ollie
I really found this band interesting, but I never listened to much of the music. Atmospheric gothic metal with jazz sounds really intriguing and very original.
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10.03.2013 - 21:55
Fredd
Account deleted
On a side note, sometimes i think the language of the review doesnt feel natural. it's grammatically correct and everything but there's just something about it
"Many bands prefer to have a female vocalist front their bands for the purposes of gaining more attentions and to sell more records"
it could have been simpler, like "Many bands prefer female vocalists to get more attention and sell more records"

i dont mean to sound like an asshole btw. :3
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10.03.2013 - 21:57
Fritillaria
Account deleted
Written by [user id=114127] on 10.03.2013 at 21:55

On a side note, sometimes i think the language doesnt feel natural. it's grammatically correct and everything but there's just something about it
"Many bands prefer to have a female vocalist front their bands for the purposes of gaining more attentions and to sell more records"
it could have been simpler, like "Many bands prefer female vocalists to get more attentions and sell more records"

i dont mean to sound like an asshole btw. :3

you don't sound an asshole at all, I love honest comments and I hate fake complements. Thank you for that , I really appreciate it. That would make me improve perhaps on the next one I will submit.
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11.03.2013 - 17:33
Fritillaria
Account deleted
Written by CyberSymphony on 10.03.2013 at 20:35

Atmospheric gothic metal with jazz sounds really intriguing and very original.

yeah for sure, and I think you won't regret your time listening to this one
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16.03.2013 - 00:37
Erik M.
Yep, very nice review (although a bit short?).

I haven't heard anything yet by this band, but reading stuff like "a female fronted progressive metal band with talents in adding atmospheric and jazzy tones to metal" really got me interested in this band.
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16.03.2013 - 19:25
Fritillaria
Account deleted
Written by Erik M. on 16.03.2013 at 00:37

Yep, very nice review (although a bit short?).

I haven't heard anything yet by this band, but reading stuff like "a female fronted progressive metal band with talents in adding atmospheric and jazzy tones to metal" really got me interested in this band.

Thank you , not really I wrote about 400 words, approximately the standard amount I should have written, they really surprised me the first time I heard their music, but your musical interest may differ
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21.01.2015 - 16:09
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by Erik M. on 16.03.2013 at 00:37

Yep, very nice review (although a bit short?).

I haven't heard anything yet by this band, but reading stuff like "a female fronted progressive metal band with talents in adding atmospheric and jazzy tones to metal" really got me interested in this band.

There are similar short ones ... and try out this band, nice, even not my fav but as dying mid 90's gothic this band still has shadows of that period
----
I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"

I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
Loading...

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