Mournblade - Mangled Lies Review artwork

Rating: 5.1

Country: USA

Release Date: 2006

Track list:
1. Mournblade
2. Lord of Chaos
3. Set [mp3]
4. Holy War
5. Mangled Lies

Total Playing Time: 16:11

Mournblade - Mangled Lies

Rick Humphery - Guitar, Bass
Todd Kellar - Drums
Jeff del Mastro - Vocals

Mournblade is the demonic black sword wielded by Yyrkoon, as created by fantasy novelist Michael Moorcock. The name has accursed this unfortunate Californian band that has seen nearly twenty years of setbacks (the death of a drummer and two bassists, the imprisonment of a vocalist and various military deployments involving their current vocalist in the Middle East). Over this time period it would appear that nothing has changed. The musical hub of this EP is early Sodom (most notably 1984's In the Sign of Evil) in terms of vocals, music and the sound of the instruments. The only thing lacking is Tom Angelripper's original pudding bowl fringe but the gritty and blubbery guitars, motorbike bass, crisp cymbals, bassy drums and Teutonic snarls are ever-present with a minor hint of modern EQing to give the punky simplicity more impact.

Those familiar with the MP3 of "Set" may have got relatively excited by the audio equivalent of an old juggernaut crushing bodies to splinters on an inevitable course of destruction. Written in dedication to Spike Cassidy of Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, who is fighting cancer, there is a crossover edge to the concise track which uses rhythmic lag between guitars to multiply effectiveness. Tight linear drumming underpins subtle evolving riffs that emphasise chords more towards the climax. However, this is simply unrepresentative of the rest of the EP. Part 1 consists of two monumentally dull tracks that each comprise two brief non-descript riffs that plod repetitively ad nauseum. Part 2 is "Set", a big surprise after Part 1 if you haven't checked out the MP3. Part 3 is a more balanced pair of songs that harness the true old school feel whilst sounding reasonably fresh.

"Holy War" is Slayer-tinged Sodom repeated in a 50 second cycle of retro riffage with an outro variant that employs the guitar lag harmony again. Drum variations prevent the foundations from stagnating. "Mangled Lies" ensures the EP ends significantly better than it starts, being more upbeat in tempo and more regal in tone. Here, Sodom is fused with a proto-black Bathory/Venom essence.

A full length is in progress including 6 new songs and remixes of these tracks. The entire EP can be considered very "true" old school metal, but only the latter half is likely to energise nostalgic listeners.

December 12th, 2006