Mekong Delta were always ahead of their time. When their self-titled debut came out in 1987, the world wasn't ready for the mayhem and chaos these guys had unleashed. Now 20 years later, goddamnit all, we're still not ready, but what the hell! They're still bending it.

The sickeningly underrated German Technical Thrash monsters are back and what joy!

Lurking Fear kicks off with "Society in Dissolution" and tic tic tic toc, time travel time. Dances of Death (And Other Walking Shadows) - What a fucking album! The music is very much in the same vein, but faster, shorter in length and much much busier in every department.

\u003cbr\>\u003cbr\>Another fact about this album that I find a tad bit disappointing is the drum sound, but it's more of a technical glitch rather than a fault in the songwriting department, so it can be excused. So by this time, I'm thinking; "Hmmm. Alright. Not bad". This is when "Immortal Hate" comes on and I'm back to drooling all over my writing pad.\n\u003cbr\>\u003cbr\>"Allegro Furioso" and "Moderato" are metal re-workings of classical pieces from Five Fragments For Group & Orchestra. The album closer is a re-interpretation of "Symphony Nr. 10" by Dimitri Schostakowitsch. These songs seem out of place and disrupts the flow of the metal juices to quite an extent. Don't get me wrong, as much I love their classical/experimental albums, I'm glad they're back and playing good ol' thrash.\n\u003cbr\>\u003cbr\>\u003cbr\>It's here in the second half of the album when the madness really kicks into full gear. "Rulers of Corruption", "Defenders of the Faith" and my current favourite "Symphony of Agony" are all right up there in quality and ready for comparison with any of their earlier material. Also, Leo Szpigiel (of Wolf Spider fame) needs a special mention for rocking my sock off with his career best singing performance.\n",1] ); //-->The second song "Purification" is lifted off a segment from Dances of Death, which has been stretched out into a full 5 min song. Here's where I start bitching. There seems to be a serious shortage of material, which is atypical of a band who are known to have written 20 min thrash metal songs and written them so fucking well, they kept us from skipping onto the next track until the last fucking second.

Another fact about this album that I find a tad bit disappointing is the drum sound, but it's more of a technical glitch than a fault in the songwriting department, so it can be excused. So by this time, I'm thinking; "Hmmm. Alright. Not bad". This is when "Immortal Hate" comes on and I'm back to drooling all over my writing pad.

"Allegro Furioso" and "Moderato" are metal re-workings of classical pieces from Five Fragments For Group & Orchestra.  The album closer is a re-interpretation of "Symphony Nr. 10" by Dimitri Schostakowitsch. These songs seem out of place and disrupts the flow of the metal juices to quite an extent. Don't get me wrong, as much I love their classical/experimental albums, I'm glad they're back and playing good ol' thrash.


It's here in the second half of the album when the madness really kicks into full gear. "Rulers of Corruption", "Defenders of the Faith" and my current favorite "Symphony of Agony" are all right up there in quality and ready for comparison with any of their earlier material. Also, Leo Szpigiel (of Wolf Spider fame) needs a special mention for rocking my sock off with his career best singing performance.

Despite being constantly compared to technical thrash giants such as Voivod and Watchtower, Mekong Delta have managed to accept those influences, mash it all together and stand out as a truly original and ass-kicking metal band. And as much as i'm tempted to give this album a 5/5, I know for a fact that these guys are capable of much more than this.

The current line-up:

Ralf Hubert - bass
Uli Kuch - drums
Peter Lake - guitar
Leo Szpigiel - vocals

Record Label - AFM Records
Year - 2007