Tad Morose - Modus Vivendi
Rating
RIYL
-Label
Century MediaTracklist
1.Anubis2.No Mercy
3.Afraid to Die
4.Clearly Insane
5.Cyberdome
6.Take on the World
7.Mother Shipton's Words
8.Unwelcome Guest
9.Life in a Lonely Grave
10.When the Spirit Rules the World
11Rainbow Demon (Uriah Heep)
12.Knowing Me, Knowing You (ABBA)
13.Losing More Than You Ever Had (Accept)
Users RatingCreate an account or log in to rate this album |
Your RatingCreate an account or log in to rate this album |
After years of plagarizing Dream Theater, Tad Morose have finally stopped. Their newest album, Modus Vivendi sports a drastically different sound than most of their back-catalog, and is their first truly efficient and enjoyable release. Now that Tad Morose have evolved into a cohesive heavy metal band and learned to shorten their songs from epic length to we-get-the-point-now-move-on, their delivery is much more successful and their music is much more precise. The opening number "Anubis" features one of the tightest riffs to come out of European metal since the late 80s, and hell, the power metal vocals that glide right over it make the listener feel like they are in the 80s. It's not a bad feeling at all.
A lot of the songs here are pretty typical of Century Media-style metal circa 2004, but a lot of them are not. Just when you think this band is slipping into the easily categorized fashion of their peers (also known as 'suck'), they bust out thrash cuts like "Clearly Insane." Of course, their insane moments (no pun intended) are surrounded by Judas Priest impersonations, but that's ok. And as expected, there are some cheesy moments (the chorus of "No Mercy" is almost as cheesy as the chorus of every Masterplan song), but they're not nearly half as bad as they could be, which says a lot about this band's ability to cut the fat.
Urban Breed (the singer) has a very nice voice for power metal, and he rarely strains it, despite his Dio-like high notes and ranges. His voice actually fits quite well over the three exceptional cover songs at the end, especially the suprisingly excellent cover of ABBA. Who thought disco could successfully morph into power metal?
All in all, this is an excellent release for anyone who enjoys the styles of Hammerfall, Masterplan, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and even Strapping Young Lad (a lot of the riffs sound like they could have been on SYL. Worth checking out, for sure.
--Timothy Golden
Comments