Mekong Delta Discography. Part 1 (1987-1991)

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Mekong Delta Discography. Part 1 (1987-1991)

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A riddle wrapped in an enigma dressed up in leather and studs, Germany's Mekong Delta perplexed the heavy metal world both by playing an unconventional brand of progressive thrash and by keeping the identities of the bandmembers secret for the first five years of a career starting in 1987. The reality was far more mundane than the rumors, as it turned out, since it was later revealed that the group had originally been masterminded by Aaarrg Records owner Ralph Hubert, who wished to pair up members of existing bands like Rage and Living Death without incurring the wrath of the labels they were signed to. Hubert didn't even intend to participate in the whole charade at first, but took on the role of bass player and the pseudonym of Bjorn Eklund when Rage's Peavy Wagner bowed out early on, then completed the initial Mekong Delta lineup with vocalist Kell (real name Wolfgang Borgmann), guitarists Rolf Stein and Vincent St. John (actually Living Death members Frank Fricke and Reiner Kelch), and drummer Gordon Perkins (in reality future journeyman Jorg Michael, then also a member of Rage).

This was the quintet responsible for 1987's conceptually unified Mekong Delta debut, which not surprisingly delved into the Vietnam War, as well as 1988's The Gnome EP and H.P. Lovecraft-inspired The Music of Erich Zann LP – all of which drew much critical acclaim and saw the band sometimes described as a Teutonic response to Canadian prog-thrashers Voivod. Membership changes began to take place behind the scenes with Uwe Baltrusch's replacement of Kelch for 1989's The Principle of Doubt album (which was loosely based on Stephen R. Donaldson's dark fantasy trilogy, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever), and by the release of 1990's Dances of Death, Fricke too was gone, Doug Lee had replaced Borgmann, and all of the fake names had finally been dropped, save for Jorg Michael's, since he remained under contract elsewhere. Still, although their secrets had largely been exposed, Mekong Delta's music continued to surprise and astound, thanks to the steady infusion of classical music elements into their ever-adventurous prog-thrash.

Though these elements had already featured to some degree on all of Mekong Delta's prior releases, it was 1991's Live at an Exhibition in-concert document that first hinted at a particularly strong fixation on the works of Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky, which the band later explored in full with an orchestra-backed recording of Pictures at an Exhibition in 1997. In between, drummer Peter Haas had joined the group for albums like 1992's Kaleidoscope and 1994's Visions Fugitives, but after the release of the aforementioned orchestral project, Mekong Delta went into an extended hibernation, as sporadic rumors swirled concerning the supposed exile and/or death of prime mover Ralph Hubert. In keeping with the band's past history, however, all of this speculation proved to be just that and, come 2007, Hubert convened a brand-new Mekong Delta featuring singer Leszek Szpigiel, guitarist Peter Lake, and drummer Uli Kusch for new album Lurking Fear, which by all accounts proved as reliably quirky and unpredictable as anything that fans might have expected from this mysterious group.

by Eduardo Rivadavia

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Mekong Delta Discography. Part 1 (1987-1991)

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Move along, children. This is just another German thrash band.

Wait, that's a lie. This is not just another thrash band. While their friends Sodom and Kreator are out on the killing fields, biting off heads and such, Mekong Delta sacrificed pure blinding speed and aggression to play in odd time signatures and, well… employ lots of dissonant riffing. Later, they went properly progressive on Kaleidoscope (1992) and that ended up entailing further distance from the thrash sound. But for now, we have some catchy anthemic thrash metal with some experimentation and interesting riffs.

Suffice it to say that this makes sense when you consider who was in the band at this point - full of members of the German speed/power metal scene of the time - Rage, Living Death, Helloween (not all those bands at the same time, but still). At the time, all the members used pseudonyms, and with further albums, Mekong Delta would switch out members for other ones. The band probably would've went on to be known as some sort of German power metal supergroup had the band's leader and bassist Ralph Hubert not introduced a great degree of classical music into the band's sound, and were it not for the pseudonyms.

So again, we have speed/thrash metal in odd time signatures and with plenty of dissonant riffs that really have nothing to do with the genre's NWOBHM/hardcore roots. At times, they approach the style of the impending death metal explosion, but are arranged in a relatively orderly method, as opposed to death metal's more chaotic "riff salad" approach. The singer uses a primarily clean high pitched approach that isn't particularly good at matching tones, but does end up providing counterpoint to the riffs.

What we end up with is definitely an odd, seemingly transitional album, but if you ask me, it's a fine debut. The production is somewhat odd, especially in terms of guitar tone, but the mixing is suprisingly good - all the instruments are relatively audible - in most cases, this includes the bass. The real strength of this album is, again, in its riffwork and arrangements. Many of them are quite simple in comparison to what would show up on later works, but they're still good riffs. Outside of one song being breakneck speed (Nightmare Patrol), most of the songs are moderately fast. There's two slower, doomy tracks - Hero's Grief and Black Sabbath (the latter being a sendup of the aforementioned band that uses the names of the band's songs as lyrics), and the band's first cover, "The Hut of Baba Yaga" from Mussorgsky's "Pictures from an Exhibition" - essentially replicating the arrangement on "metal" instruments.

It's definitely a far cry from the band's future, but it's a damn fine piece of tech-thrash and should be listened to. It seems chaotic, but it's very orderly. Think about that, it's basically one of the defining qualities of the band.

Highlights - "The Cure", "Kill the Enemy", "Nightmare Patrol"

by Pepsiman

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Mekong Delta Discography. Part 1 (1987-1991)

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Mekong Delta's first self-titled album had generated quite a stir in the metal community with its original and highly technical thrash metal. Their intricate, complex and compelling take on thrash metal was at the time something quite unlike just about anything (the only parallel to be drawn at the time (to my knowledge) was with Watchtower, who had released their first effort Energetic Disassembly in 1985). The mysterious quintet would follow this up in 1988 with The Gnome EP. Behind the facade (all members still at this point were working incognito), Jorg Michael (Gordon Perkins) would take a small break from recording duties due to touring commitments with his main priority Rage. For the recording of The Gnome, Uli Kusch (Patrick Duval) would take over behind the kit. Later that year Jorg Michael returned to the fold and Mekong Delta would reconvene to record their second full length effort, a concept album entitled The Music Of Erich Zann.

While the first album was complex and intricate, this second effort would set the bar even higher. Each song here features inventive song structures, complex time signatures, unpredictable time changes and incredible instrumental prowess. However, unlike the first effort, the composition is well executed. Whereas the first effort hada few songs that didn't sit well, this effort features songs that in spite of their unbelieavable complexity flow well and are quite infectious. It's difficult to headbang to 11/8 sections, but this album will make you try anyway. For the most part the album is quite pacy in it's insanity, with the bulk of the cuts, such as Age Of Agony, True Lies (which features perhaps their catchiest chorus since Kill The Enemy from their self titled), Hatred being in this manner. There is one slow plodding number in the vein of Black Sabbath from the self-titledin the form of I, King, Will Come. Perhaps the song that best illustrates the immense musical capabilities of the band is the classically-derived and heavily orchestrated instrumental Interludium (Begging For Mercy). The only clunker on the record would be the closing track Epilogue, which is basically vocals and keyboard only. This particular track is here for storyline purposes only, but it's bland nature (it's basically a keyboard drone) pales in comparison with the spectacular compositions that comprise the rest of the album.

Frank Fricke and Reiner Kelch (Rolf Stein and Vincent St John respectively) churn out some unbelievably complex riffing in a whole manner of complex signatures and near-impossible time signature alternations. Their approach is for the most part different to the one they took while in Living Death, as they rarely employ the lightning-fast single-note palm-muted riffing that was an integral aspect of Living Death's sound (one notable exception being Prophecy, which in certain places wouldn't look too out of place on Living Death's Protected From Reality). Here we see a riffing approach more akin to Destruction, Coroner and the aforementioned Watchtower, laden with twisted single-note riffing, fast moving power-chords and weird harmonising. Their leadwork ranges from the more understated melodic and simple lead refrains to more frenetic and aggressive shredding typical of their work in Living Death.

The drumming of Jorg Michael deserves recognition as well, playing some truly inventive drum parts and using just about his entire kit to craft his intricate drum lines. Where most thrash drummers were content to play straight bass-snare patterns (in particular a certain Danish chardonnay-quaffing troll), Michael's creative drumming put most other drummers to shame. Dropping in jaw-dropping fills more adventurous than anything Dave Lombardo or Charlie Benante had attempted at the time, using double bass in a manner that would accent the riffing not dissimilar of Gene Hoglan's work on Time Does Not Heal, and all the time keeping together this complex musical effort that was in constant danger of dissolving into chaos. This is certainly no easy task, but Michael accomplishes this admirably.

Mastermind Ralph Hubert (Bjorn Eklund) also puts in a great performance, laying down some unbelievably complex basslines, especially prominent in Memories Of Tomorrow (where the bass pretty much drives the entire song) and Interludium. The work this man put out here is peerless, and definitely should get the recognition of other thrash bassists such as Burton, Newstead, Bello, Ellefson, Lilker, etc. as he could easily take it to them.

The final piece in the puzzle is vocalist Wolfgang Borgmann (Keil), who puts in an admirable performance and shows off new aspects to his voice. For the most part he employs his cleaner delivery, not too far removed from an early John Arch in places, where in other places he uses a harsh Udo Dirkschneider-esque howl (see the last chorus in True Lies). Borgmann also introduces us to his falsetto, which he uses quite frequently. The falsetto is quite clean, but not piercing like King Diamond. He uses it at times as a vocal layer (one particularly interesting section is in Age Of Agony, which up until the time of writing I had previously assumed was a guitar line!) although he occassionally allows it to take the main melody.

With the incredibly dense and complex nature of Mekong Delta's music, it would be exceedingly difficult to produce a mix that would adequately highlight every nuance of their sound. Ralph Hubert has done an excellent job of making this album sound the way it does, particularly in accenting instruments when needed and using plenty of extra layers. The guitar sound is warm, heavy and aggressive, but retains a unique clarity essential for music of such demanding nature. The slightly distorted bass tone adds weight to the band's sound, and unlike many other thrash bands actually has a presence in the mix. The drums are mixed evenly and are prominent in the mix, but unfortunately the bass drum sound is a little flat (triggers maybe?). The vocals are mixed prominently with the overdubs being more in the background.

The sheer complexity of this album coupled with its interesting arrangements and infectiousness should arouse interest in just about anyone, even if it is just to satisfy their curiosity. Fans of incredible musicianship and instrumental prowess will definitely enjoy it, and others who want some interesting thrash far removed from aping the Big Four will more than likely be satisfied with this.

by radiohater

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Mekong Delta has to be simultaneously both one of the most underrated bands ever and one of the most overrated bands ever. From one point of observation they might be a boring, badly produced band with sucky vocals and strange songs. From another point of view they have some of the best early progressive thrash songwriting, strangely catchy ideas and riffs, and truly strange and ominous soundscapes. The latter opinion, of course, is the correct one.

The first associations the band's name brings to mind are the Vietnam War, Far East and humid warmth. The music on their albums, however, is the total opposite: it's eerie atmosphere has a cold and merciless quality, the production is harsh and somehow oddly balanced, and the ease of living in a tropical paradise is not there. It still maintains its own logic, and does not collapse into chaotic war, despite the layered complexity and harsh sound.

The usual career progression of those few thrash bands that dabble with the progressive end of their genre seems to go from aggression to something a bit mellower but much more complex, and the ambition in the compositions increases with the skill level of the musicians. So does the average song length, with the number of various parts increasing and the essential thrashiness decreasing. Mekong Delta hasn't quite gone the usual route, but their infatuation with classical music, especially that written by Modest Mussorgsky, has perhaps sidetracked them a bit; Pictures at an Exhibition can be considered a misstep, or, rather, overshooting of the theme.

On The Principle of Doubt the classical parts are still confined to a single track, "El Colibri", and the only other oddity is the theme from Twilight Zone. The follow-up to this album, Dances of Death (And Other Walking Shadows), started Mekong Delta's Mussorgsky craze, but some borrowed parts can be found already on the earlier two albums. "Twilight Zone" has the most prominent orchestral parts on the album, and as the band was later to show, their way of combining the orchestra's sound with that of a progressive thrash band works well. Both have their personal spaces, and a workable ratio of ingredients is found by mostly avoiding overstepping the borders between the two. They stay in their comfort zones, and the overlap is kept to a minimum.

What does the music sound like, then? Well, it's progressive thrash, blended with some symphonic instrumentation, timpanis and horns being the easiest to notice. The overall production does a fine work of hiding the talent, especially the complex twin guitar parts. Actually, their character could easily be changed, with different production, to immense displays of musicianship, but with the clunky soundscape, they simply are there: no matter how finely tuned and balanced the co-operation of the two guitars is, they simply sound like they were just doing what they were supposed to be doing. In other words, instead of dazzling with technicality and sounding impossibly complicated and difficult, the guitars serve the greater good, the songs, and while their intertwining beauty is there to be found easily if wished, they do not disturb the main agenda, the ten songs on the album. And that, people, is what true progression should be in its deepest essence. Not wankery, not song durations in excess of a quarter of an hour, and definitely not technicality for technicality's sake. Every song on The Principle of Doubt works like a charm, and no part of it seems like ego-tripping by a loony guitar god.

The rest of the band has a character, too. The drumming is excellent, but not overdone, and has a lot of interesting parts in it, especially considering the year of the album's release. The basswork is on par with the progressive metal of the era, in other words way beyond that of more classical heavy metal acts of the late 80s.

The vocals of Keil have an atmosphere of an instant opinion-splitter. His style is rather difficult to describe, but mostly he resorts to a kind of melodic wailing and lower grunty shout. His style is easy to dislike, but even if it's an aquired taste, the trouble of aquiring it pays itself back many times over once the listener finally gains access to the inner workings of the album. Because, obviously, this is not an easily accessible piece of art: the coarse production is the first hurdle to overcome, and the progressively alien songwriting with its eccentric tones and atmospheres full of feelings such as despair, aggression and plain strangeness does not help the first-timer to get an idea of the brilliance within. This album does not want to be liked.

The drawbacks are mostly products of time. The production would surely be different today, just to better display some of the genius in here. Perhaps the creative process would be different and more constrained in 2008, but two decades ago the idea of making a metal version of an argentinian guitarist's song did not sound cheesy at all. Because it simply works in this way. And in the late 80s, this was ruthlessly progressive and even avant-garde.

Get this album. It can be argued that this is the pinnacle of Mekong Delta's career. The songwriting has improved even further from the days of Mekong Delta and Music of Erich Zann, and Dances of Death (And Other Walking Shadows), in its own brilliance, already sounds much more polished, and perhaps gave in to the demands of modern days. Just remember, understanding this piece of work takes effort. Don't give up, it's worth it.

by Napero

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Mekong Delta are a damn fine band. Some of the best prog thrash around, and they have yet to produce something boring. The musicianship and writing in this album are absurd… in a good way. I really don't have anything to say that isn't positive about this album.

Alright, so Mekong Delta. A horribly underrated band, and for reasons I do not know. This album is trippy. Most of the riffs sound like random notes put together for maximum awesome abstract affect. Hell, it works! I can't stop listening and god knows how they wrote the riffs. Like most progressive bands, the musicianship is awesome. Guitars and drums are top notch.

Most of the time, when a band goes technical, it's to the point where the music sounds like random assortments of notes. Well, Mekong Delta has almost reached that point. It's as if the band decided to forget everything they know about music theory and just compose by feel. The product however, is truly an awesome experience for your ears.

The riffs are probably the highlight of this album. The riffs are unbelievably complex and unbelievably catchy… I couldn't pull myself from this album. It grows quickly. Many people may be put off by the unique sound, but give the album a few plays and it will soon be stuck in your head. Some of the most memorable riffs are in "Beyond the Gates". The riffing in that song is pure genius. The vocals and the drumming fit perfectly with the riffs. Along with the furious riffing, the album is complemented by sudden… very sudden tempo changes. "Outburst", and "Days of Betrayal" are also highlights from Dances of Death.

The solos in every single one of the tracks are twisted genius. "Fuck normal arpeggios and shit, we're making our own music theory", is what the every solo seems like. Twisted. Genius.

Then, after the title track, there are three other awesome tracks. Transgressor is a real thrasher. The song seems to follow a bit of a thrash formula, with gallup riffs, but also with random tempo changes, and weird melodic breakdowns. Hell, the song is completely fucked up, but in a good way. True Believers is strange, just like Transgressor, but it also has a great chorus. "I don't believe you I don't believe you, Parasite!" It got me.

Then comes Night on a Bare Mountain, a cover of a classical song by Mussorgsky. Again, twisted genius. A metal classic song at its best. The original song seems to lend itself to a metal cover, and by god, Mekong Delta did it. Awesome. +100 respect for that. It takes a few listen to fully appreciate, but once you do, it earns a place in your heart.

One thing I didn't mention in great detail was the drumming. Well, it's extremely good use of the double pedal. The drumming is every bit as technical as the guitar work, but when you have furious riffing like the kind you have in this album, you won't pay attention to the drums as much.

In conclusion, a great album. Get it. So why did I take a point off? Well, because while you don't need to be high to enjoy it, being high makes the album so much better. So for you people who don't have access to a high (be it sugar or meth), this gets a 99!

by FragKrag

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Live at an Exhibition is the first and only live album from intellectual thrashers Mekong Delta, serving as a stopgap between their Dances of Death and Kaleidoscope efforts in the early 90s. A DVD live (also from 1991) will be released many years after this, but here you've got only the audio content and extremely drag cover art to beckon you. That said, being reasonably impressed with some of the German thrash lives to this point (Destruction's Live Without Sense in particular, Sodom's Mortal Way of Live less so), it's cool to see that some of the other hopefuls were getting in their shots and allowing a neglected international fan base a chance at hearing them in that particular environment.

Of course, this is the Doug Lee-fronted Mekong Delta, so we're not entreated to hearing the classic pipes of Wolfgang Borgmann at the helm, and in the live setting, especially on the band's earlier material, he sounds middling at best. The disc opens with "The Cure" from the s/t album, and the guitars maintain their fusion of rampant, jarring energy, but Lee's clean vocals sound like a Watchtower performance with none of the schizoid genius. "Transgression" and "True Believers" are wisely chosen from the band's recent Dances of Death (and Other Walking Shadows) LP, and these fare a lot better, since these were Lee's to meddle with in the first place. The rest of the set is rounded out by a few instrumentals ("The Hut of the Baba Yaga" from the debut, "Toccata" from the single of the same name, Mussorgsky's "Night on a Bare Mountain"), a few tracks from The Music of Erich Zann which aren't so bad ("True Lies", "Memories of Tomorrow"), and "Heroes Grief", which is from the debut.

The Principle of Doubt is completely ignored, which is a little strange, since it was the band's best album to that point, but perhaps the band had been sick of playing the material, or there was some sort of agreement. At any rate, it was a mistake, because I would have loved a great live version of "A Question of Trust", at the least. Then again, the sound quality here sort of sucks, with an amateur tone to it through which none of the band's warm, paranoid glow can be cast upon the listener. It's dry and forgettable, and you never feel the convulsions you feel when poring through the studio works. Live at an Exhibition is pretty damned avoidable, not that it's readily available, and I'd recommend you get the 2007 DVD if you can find that, because no matter how it sounds, at least there will be more happening. This is neither inspiring nor well picked, with too many instrumentals interfering with any possible flow to the band's energy.

by autothrall

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Mekong Delta Discography. Part 1 (1987-1991)

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