LURKING FEAR

What a frustration.After all these years i expected way more from Ralph Hubert.He reached the peak back in 1993 with the release of visions fugitives.14 years later he comes up with an utter mediocrity.Forget the dark and aggressive Mekong Delta you knew.This album has a profound speed metal twist, nasty vocals that emerge from power metal, and abysmal speed drumming which sounds more like butt-slapping.Ralph made a huge mistake counting on mediocre musicians with speed/power metal orientations.In spite of the other two new members,Peter Lake, the new guitarist,amazes with his guitar technique.On this album we hear some of the most tecnical(and benevolent) riffs of this band, however they lack in darkness and intelligence since they originate not from thrash/prog metal but speed/power/prog metal.The difference is vast to anyone but the mediocre listener.A rhetorical question: Has this former mastermind been listening to Running Wild through the time of his absence?

Through the revolving door of Mekong Delta comes a new line up and a singer that can do the songs justice, now, if only Ralf Hubert would relent and get a production that is clear and listenable.

This is MD's first album in over ten years and as per usual it's a love it or hate it effort. Underneath the wierd production, Uli Kusch plays like a maniac on the drums and Peter Sjoberg crunches away impressively with the manic riffing on the guitars. As I said Leo Szpigiel is probably the best vocalist this band has had. That said, 'catchy' is not what MD is about....

Whilst the sounds, the mix, whatever it is, seems to be a bit of a statement, I can't help but think it has ruined what is a quality album that could have been a much better. The best in my opinion since the Music of Erich Zann. 3.5 for me, rated at 4 because it deserves more than its lowly rating on the PA site.

Mekong Delta, in my book, belongs in the same group of thrash metal bands as Flotsam & Jetsam, Voivod, and Watchtower, Invocator, and Unleashed Power - you know progressive and technical thrash metal artists whose compositions are full of twists and turns, who are not afraid to use other chords than your typical power chords, and who have really paid attention to compositional detail, such that you can easily lose yourself in a song. And, what I really like about such technical and progressive thrash metal bands is that they tend to actually sound very different.

Anyway, with "Lurking Fear" there can be no doubt that Mekong Delta are a technically daring band who are not afraid to appeal to the thinking man of metal (or thinking person - metal's for women, too, ya know). The very first track, "Society in Dissolution" (song title which is so thrash it hurts), explodes into a series of dissonant chords followed by uptempo drumming and a flury of technical riffage and odd time signature and strangely flowing spacy vocals and jazzy guitar solos. That pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the album, which offers technical and arty thrash metal with influences from power metal, progressive rock (I think that some of the vocal harmonies sound a bit like 60s and 70s era Yes), jazz fusion, alternative rock, 80s new wave and what not - and some tracks, like "Allegro Furioso", "Moderato" and "Allegro" (all of which are based on actual symphonic pieces) even have symphonic elements in them.

There aren't any weak tracks as such on the album, but stand-out tracks "Society in Dissolution", "Allegro Furioso", "Rules of Corruption" (which, along with the melodic "Ratters" is one of the straightest of the album), and "Moderato" and "Allegro".

There is a lot going on musically on this album, which means that it is also wonderfully challenging to listen to for the trained ear, but I think that maybe there is a lot to take in for the newly initiated into the world of technical and progressive metal, who should perhaps either start with the likes of Queensrÿche, Fates Warning and Dream Theater before venturing into the world of progressive thrash metal wher the degree of intenseness is considerably higher, or perhaps take in "Lurking Fear" one track at the time. Personally, I think this is a release of high quality, and, because of all the details, there is always something new to discover upon every listen.

The sound is very polished, but that's if fine, because then no details will be drowned out. I think that, perhaps the drums have too much reverb to them, and a more crisp sound would perhaps have been better.

I think that fans of Watchtower and Voivod will like this album a lot; I'd certainly recommend it to fans of progressive and technical thrash metal, and I think that fans of progressive and technical death metal like Atheist, Cynic, Obscura, Pestilence, Gorguts etc. may also like it.

(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com and progfreak.com)