IN THIS ROOM

This is very much a transitional album for the 3rd and the Mortal. The ponderous and boring doom metal focus seems to be completely gone at this point; in fact, the metal part as a whole seems to be gone. The band would eventually release ‘Projekt Bluebook’, a weird kind of electronica-meets-fusion thing that falls rather flat in my opinion.

But this album managed to combine the best (such as there was) of the early Mortal metal with the digifusion band they would become in the 21st century. And that makes for a very surprisingly decent album. Not surprising for their fans I suppose, but I have never been one of those fans. I started listening to the 3rd and the Mortal because I have a friend who lives alone, plays a lot of this kind of depressing Nordic stuff, and frankly I worry about him. And to-date I have found everything the band has done to range from simply awful, to psychically dangerous. So this album came as quite a shock. There is a noticeable lift in the spirit of the band, and at times one almost gets the impression the band might actually be enjoying making this music, possibly even enjoying a day in the sunshine without contemplating how to come up with enough money for airfare to Dr. Kevorkian’s house. Cool.

The two opening tracks (“Harvest” and “Monody”) both fall into that moody, ethereal category that so much of this band’s songs project, but the keyboards are closer to being spacey than to brooding, and the difference from their first few releases is noticeable. With “So Pure” the band goes a step further, mixing a kind of fusion rhythm/percussion sound with whispy lounge-like vocals.

The next several tracks lapse back into the gloomy-Gus mode, but by this time I’m not really buying it, and the effect is more theatrical than serious.

With “Myriad of Peep-Holes” the theatrics are glaringly apparent, and the vocals here are actually very close to passing for mainstream. The closing tune “Sleep” also has this feel to it.

And speaking of mainstream, someone in the band is a David Bowie fan, and “Sort of Invisible” proves this with its very heavy “Scary Monsters & Super Creeps” vibe. I’m tempted to say this is the highlight of the album. Come to think of it, this is my review, so – “Sort of Invisible” is the highlight of the album. There, got that out of the way.

So this one caught me off-guard. I was expecting another opportunity to bash these guys and recommend some good anti-depression medication and some strong mental- health attention to these guys and to their fans. But the band has managed to hit on a quite decent record in the middle of a career that will start off as banal and end up as just uninspired. This is the perfect storm for the band, and the best thing they’ve ever done as near as I can tell. Three stars, and recommended if you like music like Opeth’s ‘Blackwater Park’ and maybe even some of the more laid-back Green Carnation stuff.

peace