Madder Mortem - Deadlands

[Rodrigo]

MADDER MORTEM - DEADLANDS
The End Records - 2003

By Rodrigo Escandon



Having absolutely no clue about Madder Mortem upon receiving their latest effort Deadlands I seriously had no idea what to expect. After countless listens I can honestly say that this is a phenomenal release that puts it in the company of other The End artists in hard-to-categorize section.

At it's roots Deadlands has more in common with doom metal than with any other sort of genre but the added aggressiveness of the guitar rhythms mixed with chilling melodies and the absolutely incredible vocal capabilities of Agnete puts Madder Mortem in a league of their own. Let me first talk about Agnete and her singing which is totally different than any other woman singers I have heard. She packs a punch and has an amazing powerful range. Right from the first song "Necropol Lit" with a heavy churning bass and drums driving the song, Agnete jumps in with the words "REMIND!" Her voice is just so emotional, so dynamic, so in control and that is exactly what the music needs. Another place that I need to point out her singing is in "Jigsaw (The Pattern and the Puzzle)". After a slow and soft (to her standards) beginning for the first 50 seconds she seriously belts it out with the line "I?ll tear myself into pieces!" (an awesome bass line is in the background) and the song just absolutely picks up when the guitars come in. This is just too awesome!

"Distance Will Save Us" is another favorite song with it's unorthodox rhythms and structure and the last minute is just pure gold with the driving and evil sounding guitar melodies. "Rust Cleansing" is another place where Madder Mortem manage to interweave several tempos with haunting acoustics, razor-sharp guitars and slithery melodies. The 10-minute "Resonatine" juggles from the emotional to the absolutely furious and finally to the depressing and when it is over you are left wondering what exactly just hit you. Both mesmerizing and stunning, Deadlands is a must buy.

The End Records Website
Madder Mortem Official Website

[thespectralsorrows]

Sounds like another really good album by an underappreciated band from Norway. I have the first 2 Madder Mortem CD's and was wondering if this new album was worth checking out. From your review the answer is a resounding yes. You should check out their first 2 albums, I think you will find them to be equally good. Both are different as the 1st album called Mercury has more of a gothic feel while their 2nd CD called All Flesh is Grass has a more hard tone and power. Its interesting to see a female fronting band not flaunting the sex appeal, maybe that's what's holding them back from commercial success?

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/entertherealm2/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danswanofans/

[LilFag]

I was impressed by them when they supported Opeth in Manchester. I might buy this.

[dill_the_devil]

I saw them support Opeth too, in Birmingham - hadn't heard much by them before then, but now I'm looking forward to getting hold of this album. Agnete does indeed have a very powerful voice, the music is emotive and impressive, and man, can Agnete headbang!

[them][nstrel]

Quite impressive stuff, definitely too weird to listen to repetitively but has a couple of gems to be sure.

[JayKeeley]

You lot are all secretly in the band aren't ya?

[NAD is still special.]

I've heard two songs and all I can say is: Jefferson Airplane Nightmare.

[them][nstrel]

Yeah. I'm the bassist. That dude's got skill!

[Gajita]

ive heard quite a few tracks off this album, and i was pretty impressed when i saw them in Carling Academy II in Birmingham a while back...must get this sometime...