MEKONG DELTA — The Music of Erich Zann

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MEKONG DELTA - The Music of Erich Zann cover
3.65 | 12 ratings | 2 reviews
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Album · 1988

Tracklist

1. Age of Agony (3:16)
2. True Lies (5:36)
3. Confession of Madness (3:56)
4. Hatred (3:25)
5. Interludium (Begging for Mercy) (3:09)
6. Prophecy (3:59)
7. Memories of Tomorrow (4:17)
8. I, King, Will Come (5:09)
9. The Final Deluge (3:00)
10. Epilogue (1:48)
11. The Gnome (2:57)

Total Time: 40:38

Line-up/Musicians

- Keil / Vocals, Stick
- Reiner Kelch / Guitars, Vocals (backing)
- Rolf Stein / Guitras, Vocals (backing)
- Patrick Duval / Drums (11)
- Ralph "Ralf" Hubert / Bass, Guitars (acoustic)
- Jörg Michael / Drums, Percussion

About this release

Aaarrg Records, 1988.

Thanks to Unitron for the updates

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MEKONG DELTA THE MUSIC OF ERICH ZANN reviews

Specialists/collaborators reviews

Conor Fynes
'The Music Of Erich Zann' - Mekong Delta (6/10)

After a positive experience with Mekong Delta's debut, I was hungry for more of their material. Taking the name of one of H.P Lovecraft's better known tales, 'The Music Of Erich Zann' is the second album by these German thrashers, and despite a short time between the release of the two albums, there has been some significant development regarding the sound of the band. While the overall style of the band has improved however, it lacks the same naive charm that first attracted me to the debut. This has resulted in a sophomore that I more or less regard on equal grounds with the first.

From the first minute of music here onward, Mekong Delta are certainly not the band that was making straightforward, slightly offbeat thrash on their self-titled. Here, they have evolved into a much more technical and classically-leaning act. The improvements are most noticeable in the guitar riffs here. Instead of an early Voivod-esque style of slightly dissonant riffing, Mekong Delta turn their sights on neoclassical leads, harmonies, and complex instrumental passages. Also notable to the second wave of Mekong Delta is the most greater influence of classical music, particularly an instrumental segment here that contrasts guitars with eerie violins, creating a very modern piece of metal-fused classical music. The symphonic thing has been done countless times in metal, but its rare to hear it compliment the existing mood that the metal would have created on its own.

The downside of 'The Music Of Erich Zann' are the vocals. On the self-titled debut, I loved Wolfgang Borgmann's really energetic delivery. It felt really unpredictable, with him sometimes going for a melodic approach, or a thrashy rasp, or even a falsetto wail that would send chills down my spine. This time around, these things are still there, but they feel arranged in a much less effective way. Borgmann's voice also feels much weaker, especially with the falsettos, which come off as flat and borderline irritating. The rest of the music here is generally more intelligent and stronger than what Mekong Delta was doing on the debut, but this drags the band back down a bit. Largely due to the vocals as well, there aren't any songs that got into my head here, whereas on the debut, I found myself remembering some of the best moments of that album for days to come.

'The Music Of Erich Zann' is certainly an improvement overall for Mekong Delta, although I cannot call it a resounding success in every respect. In their transit to a more serious, and progressive style of thrash music, they seem to have lost some of their raw magic. However, this band's sophomore is a much more promising work, and hopefully on subsequent albums, they will take these intriguing new developments and refine them.

Members reviews

The Spotlight Kid
Mekong Delta are one of those bands that manages to stand apart, creating music which is truly unique in sound, scope and approach and "The Music Of Erich Zann" is no exception. In fact it might be the bands most ambitious offering in terms of their controlled insanity. Granted that the vocals by Keil can be a deal breaker for some with his totally bizarre and unique approach, however that's one of my favorite elements of this first incarnation of Mekong Delta's career. Sometimes singers come along who aren't conventionally good singers but they are so weird and unique in their delivery and ideas that they become just as captivating as those vocal gods we all know and love and Keil fits that mold for me on the first 3 Mekong Delta albums but especially here. I feel like this album gets unfairly maligned because yes the production is horribly thin and small sounding, however if you can look past that aspect the rewards are great. The crazy riffs, insane drumming, percolating bass lines and extravagant vocals make for a totally unique and wild ride. Harnessing the horror of Lovecraft, Mekong Delta created an album that while not for everyone is so loaded with creativity and originality and just down right bizarre coolness that for those with an adventurous spirit this album is sure to become a favorite as it has for me. a technical thrash metal classic.

Ratings only

  • Vim Fuego
  • GWLHM76
  • Psydye
  • Tritone
  • luanpedi
  • Unitron
  • H-K
  • Anster
  • vikt73
  • bratus

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