For nigh on approaching 30 years, Mekong Delta progenitor and leader Ralph Hubert has not been afraid to explore the interconnections between classical music and extreme metal in a way in which has not been attempted since the first wave of overblown prog rock bands away back in the early 1970s... (OK, ELP et alFor nigh on approaching 30 years, Mekong Delta progenitor and leader Ralph Hubert has not been afraid to explore the interconnections between classical music and extreme metal in a way in which has not been attempted since the first wave of overblown prog rock bands away back in the early 1970s… (OK, ELP et al didn't do death metal, but you get where we're coming from, right?). And this tenth release certainly sees the Teutons pushing and bending the boundaries between the two musical formats to even more elastic effect. Unusually for an album in this genre, 'In A Mirror…' kicks off with two instrumental tracks – the acoustic, Spanish-tinged picking of 'Introduction' and the more technical and complex 'Ouvreture', which not only reflects (in the best classical tradition) the themes to come later in the oeuvre (sic) but also segues naturally into 'The Armageddon Machine', the sort of thrash-edged progressive rock epic which has become the Delta trademark – hurtling along at the pell-mell speed of a peloton on the home straight yet delicately and eloquently layered. 'The Silver In God's Eye' on the other hand, while as intense in its complexity, veers much more towards the progressive end [...]
Continue reading Mekong Delta - 'In A Mirror Darkly'.
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