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.

UMUR "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.

Time Signature The armageddon machine...

Genre: progressive metal

Mekong Delta are truly an underrated progressive metal band, who deserve much ore attention than they usually get. For one, their music is very original and seamlessly go back and forth between power metal, thrash metal, symphonic metal and progressive metal. Secondly, their music is at all times challenging to the listener. Thirdly, Mekong Delta is invariably associated with top notch musicianship regardless who's in the line-up at any given time.

On their latest album, "In A Mirror Darkly", they remind us of their excellence over the course of eight tight, yet totally mind-boggling, tracks (on some versions of the release, the two first tracks are conflated into one).

After a mellow, classically oriented introduction, the listener is treated to a challenging instrumental in the form of "Ouverture" and its relentless onslaught of notes, beats, and harmonies. In typical Mekong Delta fashion, the following track 'Armageddon Machine" offers a flurry of riffs and parts, all delivered in the same onslaught manner, with Martin LeMar's vocals floating on top of the instrumentation. 'The Silver in Gods Eye' is a slightly more amorphous affair, which also has a bit of a symphonic feel to it, albeit one that aims at generating atmosphere rather than grandiosity. While 'Janus', 'Mutant Messiah', and 'Hindsight Bias' enter into progressive thrash metal territory, 'Inside the Outside of the Inside' is a driving instrumental fulls of twists, turns and challenging quirks.

Needless to say, the performance is tight and the musicianship impeccable, and Martin LeMar's voice suits the seemingly chaotic, yet stringently ordered, instrumentation perfectly. The production is characterized by a compactness that suits the complex music very well, allowing you to hear every detail. It still has the sort of mechanical edge, which is typical of Mekong Delta (and which is a good thing with this kind of music). Still, it is much more listener-friendly than, say, the production of "Lurking Fear" (which is a magnificent album, too, by the way).

Fans of progressive metal in general, and progressive thrash metal in particular should definitely check out this album. With its relentless onslaught of twists and turns and quirks lurking around every corner, "In a Mirror Darkly" truly challenges the listener in a most welcome way.

Warthur Mekong Delta's Visions Fugitives suffers for being dominated by the Suite for Group and Orchestra. Mashing up metal and orchestral work isn't exactly new - Deep Purple Mark I tried it, for instance - and it's an exercise that's often full of pitfalls. Here, the effect is rather ruined by the cheap-sounding synthesised orchestra utilised, and by the fact that the band don't really blend their music and the orchestra's performance in an especially interesting or novel way. Although some may (unaccountably) find this tedious affair to their taste, I have to give the album a rating consistent with my own reaction to it - and keeping in mind the fact that there will be plenty of other listeners who, like me, find this epic to be downright boring.

Conor Fynes 'Visions Fugitives' - Mekong Delta (9/10)

Prior to the release of 'Visions Fugitives', MEKONG DELTA had been no stranger to classical music. Their style of thrashy progressive metal exuded the influence of many a composer, particularly those with a darker sound to their orchestral observations. When it came to actually performing classical music however, the band up to this point had more or less limited themselves to using neoclassical tricks within their metal context, even doing a cover or two. With that in mind, 'Visions Fugitives' and its centerpiece 'Suite For Group And Orchestra' was quite a long time in the making. Although some may go to criticize the band for never going as far as to use a real-life orchestra in its recording, few albums within the 'thrash metal' umbrella have engaged me so much. Throw in a few pieces of cerebral prog metal to flesh things out, and you have a piece of work that would make the old giants of progressive rock proud.

Although 'Suite For Group And Orchestra' is planted right in the middle of the album, there is still a clear division here between the ornate classical 'epic', and the more traditional songs. Like RUSH's '2112', or FATES WARNING's 'No Exit', MEKONG DELTA follow prog metal canon by giving listeners a clear cut of both gears, although every track on 'Visions Fugitives' falls firmly within progressive metal territory. As they have in the past, MEKONG DELTA shares the neighborhood with VOIVOD and WATCHTOWER, in that their brand of thrash favours the cerebral over the speedy riffage of many of their contemporaries. Besides band founder Ralph Hubert, MEKONG DELTA has been a revolving door of musicians since their inception, and 'Visions Fugitives' is no exception. Mark Kaye brings a guitar performance to the band that fits their mission statement like a glove, fusing technicality with the sort of frantic atmosphere MEKONG DELTA had been capitalizing on with prior records. As far as MEKONG DELTA's metal edge is concerned, Douglas Lee's vocals may be the most controversial aspect of the sound. Although the complex vocalizations at the end of 'Them' declare that he is definitely has the ear for singing, his vocals have a tone to them that would fit much more comfortably in prog rock rather than thrash. Fortunately, MEKONG DELTA's metal side is never far ahead of the 'prog', and his performance here works just as well for the context as Wolfgang Borgmann's did on their debut.

The classical aspect of 'Visions Fugitives' is without a doubt the most important part of the album. Though the four progressive metal songs are too worthy of being deemed masterful in their composition, 'Suite For Group And Orchestra' takes up a damned half of the record, and a listener's appreciation of the record will brink largely on their openness to heavy metal being crossbred with classical music so openly. Although classical music has been going steady with metal since the days of YNGWIE MALMSTEEN and even long before, it rarely gets to the point where the two sounds are mixed to the extent where neither is the dominant force. This is the case with 'Suite For Group And Orchestra', an elaborately composed twenty minute piece worthy of the highest commendation. Here, MEKONG DELTA mimic the atmosphere of Romantic-era classical music rather than the erudite complexity of composers before, the result being a piece with plenty of epic melody and variety, not to mention a fair deal of room for the band to incorporate their rock instruments into the fray. The soothing acoustic 'Introduction' leads into an eerie 'Preludium', complete with low horns and eerie bells to make it sound like something out of the haunted mansion in Super Mario Brothers. 'Dance' and 'Fugue' bring the piece into less frightening and more proggy, technical realms, often letting the band play powerfully without getting in the way of the orchestration. As far as the composition itself goes, it's remarkable to hear how many places both emotionally and sonically MEKONG DELTA can take a listener within a twenty minute period.

In terms of flaws, the use of a computerized, or 'fake' orchestra may not hurt the compositions or music, but there is always the feeling throughout listening to 'Visions Fugitives' that things could be even more impressive, had the band had the resources to make a full orchestral rendition of their music a reality. A less-than-excellent production quality carries over to the prog metal songs as well, with the vocals sounding somewhat muffled and less mixed than they rightfully should have been. None of these studio issues are ever enough to take away from the excellence of the band's 'vision' however; it might even be said that the muffled sound and artificial instruments even add to the atmosphere. MEKONG DELTA have long been one of the most engaging acts to come out of German thrash metal, and 'Visions Fugitives' sees them finally realize their dream of bringing classical music to the thrash realm. Even still, it feels as if this project left open room for improvement, but if MEKONG DELTA never tops the majesty they have created here, I won't be one to complain.