THE DREADFUL HOURS

For a long time I've been undecided towards this MDB album. The first three songs on the album are easily the best they've ever recorded, but somehow the remainder of the album didn't convince me at all. A couple of years and a few visits later and I find myself scratching my head to remember any reason why I would have thought so. The intensity drops a notch after the blasting start but the quality never drops below good.

The Dreadful Hours continues along the lines of the previous album and confirms MDB's confidence to mix all aspects of their sound into steaming dark symphonies. If I would have to build a case to get MDB on PA then this would be the album of choice. The songs have become intricate progressive compositions that equally touch their symphonic, melodic, experimental and dark metal sides. The music flows and develops naturally, starting from point A and ending somewhere further down the alphabet while covering at least a dozen other vowels on their way. The playing and arrangements have never been better. Especially the orchestral keyboards stand out. There are few metal bands with more tasty keys then MDB.

Naturally, at 70 minutes it's at least 15 minutes too long, but the last track is a re-recording of an old classic and can be regarded as some kind of fan bonus. Merely looking at the 56 minutes of original material, I can safely say that this would be an MDB album that comes with the high recommendations from me. The first three tracks specifically are masterpieces!