Proclaiming Vengeance

You know these ultra brutal death metal groups from South America that (for the most part) all sound the same? Bands that use one type of monotone blastbeat wankery all the way through and never seem to shut the fuck up about their critical rituals, drenched in gory nihilism and atonal masturbation? But always thank Mommy, Daddy, Grandma and the little doggy Toto in the booklet? If you know what I am talking about, get yo' ass over here for a special treat, you unworthy maggots! "Mental Horror" are one of those bands without being one of those bands. Yes, that makes sense, ye fools! Mental Horror represent everything great about this particular style and are simply unheard of. A damn shame!

First of all: This us not a pure brutal death metal album. Yeah, sorry about that. The everflowing melodic structures and the relentless blasting without thrash beats, chug chugs, slam or mid tempo sections have definitely some roots in the high speed black or even war metal garden, the occassional passionate raspy screams as company for the equally excellent gnarly growls tell the rest of the tale. Some of the riffs sound like they have been stolen from a very straight forward and never released melodic black metal album from sweden during the late nineties, they are integrated flawlessly into the general picture of surprisingly catchy downtown technical death metal. Meaty, talented riffing without fat or waste. What a tremendous ass kicking. This is how Nile would sound if all the members had a very strong problem with alcohol: Simpler, meaner, less pretentious and beating the everloving shit out of you without crossing into the realm of boredom even once.

I can't believe that I am about to write this: The nonstop blasting does not get boring. It is not always precisely on time and does feel a bit improvised sometimes, which is a wonderful strength in the context of this magnificent bitch of a record. No tornado is scripted, it just is. The sound is natural and organic as hell, I can listen to this guy hammering away all day without growing tired of it. It's nothing short of a miracle and puts Marduk to shame. This is how you do a blast album, you stupid wannabe Panzerdivision fucks. Listen and learn! The magical storms of "Battles in the north" are reborn on another continent and there is nothing you can do about it! The constant river of drumming is as pleasing as rain on your window. Always there, always comforting.

There are some atmospheric intermezzos with playful echoy guitar pickings by the way. Harmonic, short, bordering on gentleness. Folksy and well crafted. What the fuck. At one time, I actually thought that a Blind Guardian Song would come up next. Completely unlooked for but very welcome. The solos in the actual songs remind me of Slayer and Vader with all their atonal and twitchy panic. Oh snap, they didn't! Fuck. Mental Horror are still an actual metal band. How cool is this album? Screw Abhorrence and Krisiun for their failed attempts to crush my unruly ass. Mental Horror are the true kings and they have smashed me to whiny little pieces. Let me wipe away my tears and press the replay button once more. Fuck me, daddy!

This album is chaotic death metal with a touch of neoclassical melodies. The melodies are obscure just as everything else having to do with this band just look at the lyric sheet and you will know what I mean. This song sounds like feverish dreams and rants of a mad crack addicted Mozart. The guitar work is simply mind boggling, and all thought eh music was not recorded to a click track and the blast betas waver and are imprecise, the riffs begin and end, magically almost, on time with each other. There are instrumental tracks and solos and what have you, but it’s all played off, and not played n your typical fashion. In fact everything about this band is truly unique and awe inspiring, few people are able to create their own sound without biting form anywhere what so ever. But they do, for not only do they not sound like their country mates, they cannot be linked to other bands stylistically, or with regards to their song structures. The whole thing is a seething black cauldron of hate and sorrowful melodies with an extra dose of aforementioned neoclassical melodies and a heavy helping of brutality, making it death metal. The drums are insane non-stop, little bit sloppy blast beats, and only stop to roll on the toms and snare, the guitars are like I said bringers of melodies and pretty chord progressions, and the vocals are double, one low growl, and a high pitched black metal nasal voice. All in all this piece of music is some of the best shit out there today, so I can recommend it to almost anyone who likes death metal.

Sure, Mental Horror can constantly play with great speed, but it gets boring after the 3rd track. You think that there is going to be some diversity, but there isn't. It's just the same boring crap over and over. The drums are one thing:Blastbeats. Sometimes their drummer does, well I don't know what to call it. Spazzy hitting? He just seems to roll on the bass drum and hit the snare a couple of times. I don't know what the hell he is doing. Maybe he thought it sounded cool. So he did it every two songs.

The guitar riifs are the same over and over. I could make up riffs like that. I couldn't play them that fast, but I could make up their riffs easily. Sure, he may be doing vocals at the same time, but I've seen guys play way better while doing vocals.

The bass, well, there is no bass.

Overall, the CD sucks, and it wasn't worth finding a way to get it. It sucks, and unless you like the same thing over and over, don't buy it.(Or "buy")