Mindpatrol – The Marble Fall (Self-Released)

Sunday, 11th October 2015
Rating: 7/10

The fall of man has always been fodder for the metal brethren. It does seem to have all it takes in order to satiate the metal fan. Darkness, betrayal, all that good stuff. So it comes as no surprise that another band has tackled the subject, this time Germany’s Mindpatrol offers their own twist on the biblical subject on their second album, The Marble Fall.

What’s interesting is that Mindpatrol puts themselves all over the map. There’s progressive/power touches, melodic death metal, thrash, and some sprinklings of even more. Yet the conceptually based album doesn’t ever seem like it’s reaching too far or too wide. If there’s one thing that does unify the album, it’s the number of catchy, melodic hooks. Melodic death metal fans will take note within the first tracks, with “Genesis,” “Where Beauty Lies,” and “The Fall” all serving as a solid, one-two-three showcase of the band’s melodic writing prowess. There are some heavier moments though, with “The Marble Throne” and “Nobody’s Slave” serving up quite the death metal crunch without sacrificing their melodic sensibility.

The vocals also deliver a bounty of diversity as well, though they may be the deciding factor in some fans’ thoughts about the album. There are some of the usual death-ly varieties to be had, which sound/fit excellent, but some of the other choices sound questionable. There are some almost spoken word sections that open up “Genesis” that start things off on the wrong foot (they will later show up in other tracks, such as the closing “Catharsis”). There are also some shouts that feel more forced than anything else (“Dawn”).

For their sophomore outing, Mindpatrol is nothing less than ambitious. There’s plenty to love about the album, particularly how it weaves an hour-long concept with a myriad of influences without sounding patchworked. Some of the vocals could use a little bit of work, but it’s a small price to pay for an otherwise excellent musical landscape.

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