Mordenial - The Plague

The sound of melodic death metal has taken quite a few twists and turns over the decades. Particularly, staples like In Flames and Dark Tranquility haven’t necessarily abandoned the style completely, but they left a legacy before choosing to move forward with different sounds. So now it’s up the newer bands to keep the torch going so that the original sound doesn’t fade into oblivion. It’s bands like Mordenial that pick up where the larger bands left off, and it’s albums like “The Plague” that remind me of why melo-death gained traction in the first place and why it’s still a relative style of metal today.

Much like how “The Plague” has very little fluff to it and doesn’t really f**k around with the music, I’m going to do the same and just cut to the chase with this piece. Overall, Mordenial has pretty been done a fabulous job the likes of which I’ve no doubt that any fan of melo-death, new or old, will have few problems with this record. The ten tracks that this Swedish group through downs for us are no less than engagingly entertaining as “The Plague” sticks true to the very original structure of melodic death metal to the very end, and you can really feel how the members of Mordenial know the style inside and out to where they’ve modeled it fantastically well with this piece. And whether it be a real anthem that rallies together an angry mob, a more sorrow filled tuned that plucks at the strings of the soul, or a simple track with a sick rhtyhm and murderous beat, Mordenial makes it work down to the very last note. Yet, it’s the vocals that tie “The Plague” together for me as they’re soaked in the original sound of melo-death even more so than the surrounding instruments, and it really feels like I’m back in the early days of melo-death where Swedish minds are coming together to create something ground-breaking. It takes a very special band to invoke such a thought, and Mordenial was able to do so with every single one of the tracks that they throw at us with “The Plague” to form up this experience that’s no less than top notch for all of melodic death metal.

There is no shortage of melo-death in today’s world, especially if you’re looking at Gothenburg, but that doesn’t mean there’s no need for new fresh acts to breathe life back into the style that some consider to have been run into the ground years ago. Mordenial seems more than up to the task to bring the style back to the glory days, and so far they’re doing a damn fine job at it. “The Plague” from start to finish is an impeccable album of its style and shows that not only does Mordenial know exactly what they’re f**king doing, but they’ve got the talent and the potential to do it even bigger than what they’ve accomplished here.

“The Plague” releases on July 31st via Black Lion Records! You can listen to two advanced tracks from the album on Bandcamp here.