Tad Morose – March of the Obsequious
Release Date: 26th August 2022
Label: GMR Music Group
Pre-Order/Pre-Save
Genre: Power Metal, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal.
FFO: Brainstorm, Symphony X, Primal Fear, Nevermore, Iced Earth.
Review By: Rick Farley
TadMorose, Sweden’s legendary metal band, is back, ready to unleash album number eleven. Original founding member, and guitarist/keyboards Christer Anderson, is joined by Ronny Hemlin on vocals, Tommy Karppanen on bass, Markus Albertsson on guitar and Peter Morén on drums, all ready to blow out the windows on your dragon wizard decaled party van, with their thrashy heavy metal power.
The band was formed in 1991 and, besides Anderson, has had a considerable number of exiting members and line-up changes over the years. The band is described as being a hybrid of classic heavy metal and power metal with tinges of progressive elements. With March of the Obsequious dropping, I would say this description still stands true. The bands formula is simple; crunchy muscular riffs, scorching solos, heavy low end, soaring vocals and rhythmic headbanging percussion. It’s a standard pillar of consistency that just works. It’s tried and true. The one slight problem with this, is that it works for a lot of other bands as well and will often sometimes be seen as relatively uninspired. Fortunately for us, we’re dealing with some steel sharpened heavy metal veterans who aren’t about to let us down.
There seems to be two camps in the Tad Morose fanbase, those that believe the glory days of the band are long gone with the departure of beloved vocalist Urban Breed, with the belief that the band has lost the symphonic charm of what made them special to begin with. And then there are those who are perfectly happy with the grittier style of Ronny Hemlin, sharper chugging riffs and less complex song writing. Frankly, I can see both sides of this coin. Those that loved that last three albums will surely love this as well, but this record does a much better job of bringing in more elements of the old with much cleaner, more focused song writing.
With me being a long-time fan of the band, I tend to lean on the side of the darker progressive version of the band, Undead and Matters of the Dark. However, I can absolutely say with complete confidence on this, March of the Obsequious is an extremely solid mix of old and new with potential to please both fanbases, and hell, even unite us all just a little bit more. Spellbinding track Phantasm is a good example of this. It has a mix of Queensrÿche style riffing blended with some heavy chugging and scorching solos. The darker, proggy elements are present during the lighter verses, with the song building into a catchy, aerial sing along chorus. Honestly, I can’t imagine any Tad Morose fan disliking this song. Track nine, Legion, is another song bound to unite. It’s a brooding slow burning darker track with killer layered vocal melodies and marvellous guitar work. It brings some Undead vibes with a sharper riffed modern touch. Album closer This Perfect Storm is a tour de force of new and classic. Fast galloping chorus riffs, prog filled versus with clean chord progressions and slinking bass lines. A precise blend of aggression, power, and melody.
Although this album doesn’t completely live up to the standards of those early albums, having a couple of average songs with clunky choruses, it does, however, still fucking rock and will easily get you banging your head. The production is top-notch, it’s heavy as hell, has a vicious guitar assault with killer solos and wailing vocal gymnastics. It’s hard not to appreciate that. March of the Obsequious is an easy album to just jam and have a fist pumping enjoyable time with. There are moments of pure awesomeness that will bring some classic vibes. Just put it on and crank it up. 
(3.5 / 5)
