THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE WORLD

After two masterful albums in the early 90's, MDB quickly disappeared from my radar. The following three albums were average at best and didn't seem to capture the magic of the early days. So if MDB wanted to regain any credibility amongst their fans and the metal press, their sixth album really had to deliver.

And luckily they did.

MDB sounds reborn, they returned to the epic grandeur of the early years, but it's not a mindless return. The album also integrates the feel for melody that MDB had developed over the preceding albums. The violin player has been replaced by dark symphonic keyboards that complete the crunchy guitars perfectly. The harmonic development of the riffs and chords is brilliant, especially on the albums highlights such as She Is Dark, The Isis Script and the monstrous Edenbeast. If anyone doubted MDB's Prog credentials, then here is where you'll find them abundantly. Superb 5 star progressive doom bliss here.

Also the firing Fever Sea and the touching sadness of the closing Sear Me III are excellent. Next to the songwriting quality, the best surprise comes from Aaron's vocals. Not only did he manage to give his clean vocals an understated power smouldering with inner fire, he also found his confidence back to unleash his raw vocals again, varying sinister rasps, rough shrieks and low growls. He's really a great vocalists when he has inspired music and melodies to back him up.

There are a couple of lesser moments, the title track is rather dreary in its slow parts, Into The Lake of Ghost struggles through its bland verses, and Christliar sounds a bit formulaic. But mostly the material is either superb or very good.

The Light at the End of the World is the first in a string of three very solid MDB albums that form the pinnacle of their discography for me. Highly recommended for fans of Opeth, Agalloch and Edge Of Sanity.