MEKONG DELTA - Lurking Fear
September 6, 2007, 17 years ago
(AFM)
Before there was Meshuggah, Primus or Cephalic Carnage thrashing in quirky time signatures, there was Germany’s unappreciated cult sons, Mekong Delta. Reformed with Wolf Spider vocalist Leo Szpigiel (who sounds like King Diamond, particularly in falsetto), the penchant for classically-tinged instrumentals remains intact, courtesy of ‘Moderato’, ‘Allegro Furioso’ and the closing reworking of Shostakovich’s ‘Symphony #10’ (here re-titled ‘Allegro’). Actually, even the songs leave plenty of space for vocal-less exploration. Is it just subliminal, or are there snippets of well-known melodies woven into the orchestral rearrangements? Is that Star Wars’ ‘Imperial March’ within the pizzicato-introduced ‘Moderato’? There’s definitely a flamenco flourish in ‘Defenders Of The Faith’ (no, not that one). Probably not the place to start an investigation of Mekong Delta - try Dances Of Death or The Music Of Erich Zann instead.
