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Mushroom Cloud

In Mad Minute

Written by: PP on 21/01/2014 23:58:13

If there's something that truly warms a reviewer's heart, it is when a band takes a giant leap forward between a shitty demo and their actual debut full-length release. That is exactly what has happened with Randers, Denmark based Mushroom Cloud. Their debut EP "Blind Lead The Blind" was a mediocre, thrashy Danish metal release back in 2010 that basically tried to be Megadeth or Metallica, or both at the same time, without much success. It had a feeling of an unfinished demo, and was generally surrounded by amateurish songwriting as well as production values that suggested the EP should've never been released public.

The amount of improvement since then is staggering and the band can consider me positively surprised with their debut album "In Mad Minute", which was released last fall. It's a release to be proud of, to an extent where it's almost impossible to believe this is still the same band. Production is now crisp and clear - albeit occasionally falling foul of the echoing Danish style that was problematic for a long time for the majority of bands in this country. The songwriting? These are quality metal songs that explore a variety of styles and approaches ranging from Raunchy style modern metal with a couple of metalcore elements attached to it, to thrash metal inspired melodic death metal with growled vocals, to everything in between. Best of all? The songs are catchy. Where so many Danish metal bands focus on writing brutal music for the sake of brutality, here's a fine example of a group that has realized enough finesse in their songwriting to avoid such pitfalls, and listen to the result. They aren't afraid to use clean vocals extensively, although not of the whiny/emo style as tends to be the case for core oriented releases. The darker/melancholic ones create a solid contrast to the rougher growled vocals, especially because the guitars are involved in a similar dynamic with treble-driven leads meeting down-tuned riffs in well-arranged settings throughout the record.

Speaking of riffs, this is what Mushroom Cloud were presumably aiming for on their debut EP but weren't able to succeed possibly due to inexperience, lack of production guidance, or perhaps even both. All guitars throughout the album sound excellent, and there's enough variety riffs-wise to keep you interested throughout the record. Coupled with solid vocals and a good production, "In Mad Minute" is an album I didn't think Mushroom Cloud were capable of writing. I stand corrected.

Download: Purifire, Broken Record, Fuck Alt Delete
For the fans of: Raunchy, Psy:Code, Mercenary, Mevadio,
Listen: Facebook

Release date 09.09.2013
Mighty Music