Madder Mortem – Old Eyes, New Heart
Release Date: 26th January 2024
Label: Dark Essence Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Avant Garde, Post-Metal, Alternative, Progressive.
FFO: Ava Inferi, Vulture Industries, The Gathering, Oceans of Slumber.
Review By: Mark Waight
After a gap of five years, Madder Mortem make a welcome return with their eighth studio album Old Eyes, New Heart. Inspired by turmoil and the unfortunate loss of Jakob, father of Madder Mortem members Agnete and BP with the release of Old Eyes, New Heart they have produced an album that is not only dedicated to him but one he would have been immensely proud of as well as using two of his paintings for the album artwork.
Madder Mortem is Agnete M Kirkevaag (vocals), BP M Kirkevaag (guitar, vocals), Anders Langberg (guitar), Tormod L Moseng (bass) and Mads Solas (drums).
Coming from the Dark is a very solemn song with a haunting melody and a deeply black theme. It conjures thoughts of creatures rising from the grave to haunt our very souls.
The gentle pace of On Guard lays the foundations of a goosebump inducing tune, with spooky twanging guitars serving to jangle your nerves and put you on edge. Spine tingling!
Ghastly screamer Master Tongue has more changes of pace than a demon has tridents as it heats up and then cools down throughout. The riff is as hot as Dante’s inferno, too.
The Head that Wears the Crown is indeed heavy and is probably my favourite track on the album as it leans towards something a little more traditional.
Taking things down a notch, Cold Hard Rain drives right through you, just as the title suggests. It’s wonderfully miserable and bleak!
Futuristic sounding Unity is a touch more upbeat with a lovely fusion of electro-rock and modern metal. Enjoyable and interesting change of direction.
Towers is a fully up-to-date modern metal composition with a whole host of ingredients and genres, generating a very gastro musical cocktail. Spot on point!
Here and Now is a much softer, gentler and more contemporary song with some lovely dreamy and beautiful vocals. This will have wide appeal across a much bigger audience than the rest.
A quick opening introduces Things I’ll Never Do, a thrift bass adds a bit of depth along with a pounding drum beat to produce a wall of intoxicating sound. Midway through, things fade, then the pedal hits the metal once again before we once again fade to close.
It hasn’t been a Long Road, but we have reached the end of our Madder Mortem journey with a slow, melancholy tune that somehow also manages to be comforting in its simplicity and bitter-sweet delivery. A lovely finish!!
Old Eyes, New Heart is to quote an old sport adage a game of two halves with the first half of the album of a darker nature before a second half where things get more up to date with some fine Modern Metal and Contemporary/Progressive rock. This was an introduction to Madder Mortem for me, and they are a band I will certainly be looking out for in the future. Well worth checking out if you like something a little different to the mainstream.
(3.5 / 5)
