Band:	Mekong Delta
Album:	Kaleidoscope
Style:	Progressive thrash metal
Release date:	1992
Guest review by:	Darkside Momo

01. Innocent?
02. Sphere Eclipse
03. Dance On A Volcano
04. Dreaming
05. Heartbeat
06. Shadow Walker
07. Sabre Dance
08. Misunderstanding
09. About Science

Mekong Delta... An excellent, but definitively underrated band. Back in 1992, they had already released four albums, and even toured after the release of 'Dances Of Death'. They showed that they were able to play their technical stuff live (one of the critics they faced at the time). Each Mekong Delta album is different and showcases the progression of the band's technicality and Ralf Hubert's songwriting. Kaleidoscope is no exception.

First and foremost, it is their most 'listener-friendly' album. Which means that it's, at first listen, really accessible. The songs mostly have a classical pop structure (verse, chorus and so on), and the sound is powerful and quite clear, totally unlike 'The Principle Of Doubt'. The music is less aggressive too; still dark, yes, but less thrashy than before. The songs were composed to fit Peter Lake's singing, and not the other way around.

Am I saying that Mekong became a pop band? Of course not! For the first listen, one might not notice, but if you dig a little deeper into the music, you'll realize it's, as expected, really technical. Maybe in some way the most technically demanding album of the band to this point.

As always on a Mekong Delta release, there are cover songs. One of those is a classical masterpiece. This time it's Sabre Dance by Kachaturian (which was also covered by Skyclad, The Toy Dolls, etc). The other one comes from a progressive rock band, it's Dance On A Volcano by Genesis (Ralf Hubert is a huge prog fan). And both sound, as always, really great, really close to the original with a really heavy, metal sound.

All the songs are great, from the catchy opener Innocent, to the moody, melancholic Heartbeat... Each song hs its own identity, adding to the magic of this album. Really the perfect album to discover Mekong Delta, especially if you're into metal's more melodic side.

I'm not giving it a rating, because I wouldn't be objective and it would be far too high!