Madder Mortem
Mercury (CD) 1998 Misanthropy
Not everybody shares my enthusiasm for this Norwegian band centred around front woman and vocalist Agnete M. Kirkevaag. This however does not stop me from trying to promote this wonderful band and especially this great album. In a nutshell, Madder Mortem plays a sort of emotional dark metal with the same doomed fairytale like feeling of early The 3rd and the Mortal or Left Hand Solution. Especially Agnete's painfully emotional vocals contribute to the fairytale factor. Musically you will also definately have the feeling that they imitate the 3rd some times, like on 'Under Mother Moon'. Still, Madder Mortem are in my opinion too strong a band to be considered just a mere clone. Strong songwriting, emotional lyrics and the previously mentioned voice of Agnete, make 'Mercury' into a highly emotional trip from the pits of depression to the angel filled heavens. The painfully sorrowful 'He who longed for the stars', belongs to that ever elusive category of songs that can send shivers down my spine. Especially the parts where Agnete, accompanied by only an acoustic guitar, sings "In this painful world, no one is spared. He who longed for the stars. Their icy silence Frozen eyes, just frozen, ice in his words.". The album however has a lot of other highlights, like 'The Remants' or 'These mortal sins'. This is music to take you away to a land filled with mysticism and untold sorrow. If you look past the sometimes extreme resemblance in the music to the 3rd and the Mortal, you will find a jewel of an album here.	1. Undertow 2. Under another moon 3. He who longed for the stars 4. These mortal sins 5. The grinding silence 6. Loss 7. Remnants 8. Misty sleep 9. Convertion Approx. 52 minutes
Reviewed by: Aldo Quispel
All Flesh is Grass (CD) 2001 Century Media
After a long wait and Madder Mortem having been transformed into an almost completely new band (only two original bandmember are left), this album was a huge shock to me. While at times lacking in originality, I loved their debut album and was very excited when hearing about this new album (despite its weird name). In the last 4 years Madder Mortem have changed a lot. So lets go over the changes. The first major thing that struck me, was that the music has become much harsher; it even involves, prepare for this one, Nu-metal elements. Especially the sometimes added harsh male vocals give the music a much more hardcorish feel. The music itself has also become less melodic and more back to a simpler metal basic, often consisting of simple riffs that change throughout a song, creating rather hard to digest and loosely tied together songs. The songs have also become much shorter. Of course this means that the band left their The 3rd and the Mortal "feel" behind, they have found their own sound on this album. My first reaction was the same as your reaction probably is while reading the above description with terms like 'Nu-metal': shock, unbelief and regret. However, Agnette's still wonderful vocals kept me listening to this album non the less and it does grow on you. While a lot of the emotional feeling has gone from this album, it is still to be found when looked for. This is a far from positive album. 'To kill and kill again' and 'Breaker of Worlds' are good examples of songs where the emotions are hidden, but they are definitely there. This time more focusing on giving up and blind hate. Songs like 'Turn the war on' and 'Traitor's mark' seem to  follow in the wake of the more defaitist emotions found on 'Mercury'. But the mystery land one could drift off to on 'Mercury', you won't find here.	1. Breaker of worlds 2. To kill and kill again 3. The cluster children 4. Ruby red 5. Head on pillow 6. Turn the war on 7. 4 Chambers 8. Ten times defeat 9. Traitor's mark Approx. 48 minutes
Reviewed by: Aldo Quispel