IN A MIRROR DARKLY

The Wanderer is Lurking in Fear

Third album with new material ("Intersections" excluded as it consists of re-recordings) for Mekong Delta since their revival and second release with almost the same line-up for SPV. Zimniak is missing compared to "Wanderers on the Edge of Time" and "Intersections" and the band is left with one guitar player. In some ways, their 11th studio album comes out as a blend of the 2007 and 2010 releases in that it marries the raw power and the extreme of the former with the more refined, melodic character of the second. A marked improvement, especially compared to "Lurking Fear", is the powerful, mature production.

Apart from that, "In a Mirror Darkly" is what you would call a typical Mekong Delta album, with plenty of their signature tech-thrash (e.g. The Armageddon Machine), a couple of impressive, varied instrumentals with the welcome inclusion of acoustic guitars and classical interludes, and a few (not surprisingly!) deviations to more atmospheric, mid-tempo structures ("The Silver in Gods Eye"). Lemar seems to have glued well with the style of the band and his vocal performance is at times impressive. The characteristic dissonant chords dominate the length of the album and it is fair to say that the melodic aspect has taken a step back, although Hubert does not seem to deviate too much from the classic Mekong Delta song-writing.

I am not sure how many riffs they can fit in 46 minutes, but the trained progressive metal listener and/or Mekong Delta fan will surely not be disappointed from the plethora of structures. What I feel the album might be lacking is the grandiose of the "Wanderer..." album, the quirky melodies, that could have made this just a little bit more special. As it stands, it is another solid release from Mekong Delta, worthy of its legacy. 3.5 stars.

Best moments: Ouverture, Inside the Outside of the Inside, Hindsight Bias

"In a Mirror Darkly" is the 10th full-length studio album by German technical/progressive metal act Mekong Delta. The album was released through Steamhammer Records in April 2014. "In a Mirror Darkly" features the same lineup who recorded the band´s preceeding studio album "Intersections (2012)". It´s actually been a stable lineup since "Wanderer on the Edge of Time (2010)", which is not exactly business as usual for Mekong Delta.

The music style on "In a Mirror Darkly" is a technical type of progressive metal with strong thrash metal leanings. Mekong Delta are relatively distinct sounding but if I have to mention some references it would be artists like Psychotic Waltz and Fates Warning at their heaviest. Lead vocalist Martin LeMar (who at times has a pretty thick German accent) is more of a US power metal type singer though. Pretty powerful and raw sounding but also capable of singing more melodic clean vocals.

The material on the album are generally very well written and at times quite intriguing. Just from listening to the opening trio of tracks, the classical tinged acoustic nylon string guitar intro, the instrumental "Ouverture", and the heavy, thrashy, and aggressive "The Armageddon Machine", it is pretty clear that this is a varied and very cleverly composed release, but the whole album is full of great challenging tracks and high level musicianship. The sound production is also well sounding and suits the music perfectly.

So all in all another quality release by one of the veterans of the genre, who are still actively pushing boundaries and inspiring other aspiring artists in the process. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.