Review by Sonny for Madder Mortem - Deadlands (2002)

Madder Mortem are a five-piece progressive metal band from Oslo formed by brother and sister, guitarist Birger Petter M. Kirkevaag and vocalist Agnete M. Kirkevaag, who are the only two original members still with the band. Deadlands was released in 2002 and I used to have a ripped CD-R copy I got off a friend at work when it came out, but that has long since disappeared in one of many clear-outs. I was a big fan of the album when it came out, but it has been a long time since I last heard it, so I thought it would be ripe for a revisit. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then and I have consumed a lot of music in the intervening years so how does it stack up now? Well, I must admit to not being as blown away by it now as I was back then, I guess my exposure to more and better progressive metal albums have taken some of the shine off this. Don't get me wrong, it is still an interesting album and certainly has it's moments, but it certainly isn't a prog-metal classic.

After a short intro track the album proper begins with the track I remember best, Necropol Lit, with it's groove-laden, doomy main riff it is still an attention-grabber of a track, although it doesn't satisfy in the same way as it once did. Next track, Omnivore, is much better and Agnete's vocals are really on full power on this track, which may be my favourite on the album. A lot of the albums riffs are of the chugging type that is often associated with nu-metal, and about which I am somewhat ambivalent - here they are passable in the main and work quite well in the context of the album and in combination with those terrific vocals. Generally the guitar work is pretty good, with both dissonant and melodic lead passages. The production isn't bad at all, the bass and drums get plenty of space in the mix and aren't swamped by everything else, Pål Mozart Bjørke's basswork in particular is exemplary.

Deadlands has quite a menacing, brooding, gothic vibe to it and gives off an almost cultish atmosphere. The songwriting isn't as complex as a lot of other progressive metal, but it does incorporate some nice temporal and tonal changes and the songs are very tight and efficient with very little technical showiness and window dressing, which is illustrated by over half the album comprising tracks around the five minute mark. The track I struggled with most seems to be one of the album's better-loved, Jigsaw (The Pattern and the Puzzle) which just lays the nu-metal vibe on a bit too thickly and nudges into my nu-metal red zone. Overall, it hasn't held up as well as I thought it might, although it is a fairly unique-sounding release and still has several tracks that are worth checking out.