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October 12, 2008 |
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01. Anubis
02. No Mercy
03. Afraid To Die
04. Clearly Insane
05. Cyberdome
06. Take On The World
07. Mother Shipton's Words
08. Unwelcome Guest
09. Life In A Lonely Grave
10. When The Spirit Rules The World
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When I think of Power Metal, I think of bands such as NIGHTWISH, STRATOVARIUS, SONATA ARCTICA, and many others deriving from the great Nordic lands of Scandinavia. But TAD MOROSE, from Bollnäs, Sweden (Urban Breed - vocals, Christer "Krunt" Andersson - guitars, Daniel Olsson - guitars, Anders Modd - bass, and Peter Morèn - drums) enter into a world with their sixth wonder, "Modus Vivendi", on a much different level than the rest. They seem to have left the whimsical melodies behind and embraced a more realistic version of themselves.
With the release of "Undead" in 2000, many thought this was their final destination into an evolving era. Riding high on the waves of power metal, we also found 2002's "Matters Of The Dark" to hover at another spectacular height. The vocals were through the roof interceding with Urban's smooth steel-like tones. However, we found only half the people being satisfied - myself being among that "half".
TAD MOROSE entered Studio Soundcreation to record "Modus Vivendi", then moved onward to Gothenburg's Fredman Studio to mix the album along with Fredrik Nordström (DREAM EVIL, IN FLAMES, DIMMU BORGIR). With "Modus Vivendi" hitting the shelves, we watched the metalheads around the world reach for it with excitement. When popped into the CD player, you immediately hear the strength it carries throughout its entirety. As with the band's previous release, "Matters Of The Dark", the excellent cover artwork on "Modus Vivendi" is ever brush-stroked by artist Jan Meininghaus, a native German who also bestows his precious talents on other bands such as BOLT THROWER, BRAINSTORM, and ZONATA.
The first track, "Anubis" is the perfect choice to drop the bomb on us as we begin swimming through a more realistic TAD MOROSE. Urban Breed's rough edgy vocals cut through like a razor blade sending us into a whirlwind off-course and heavy sounds of intensity. Though an excellent pre-chorused song, "Afraid To Die" is not wordy in the least, which provides a sense of uniqueness to the message it gives. "Cyberdome" bangs into a semi-dramatic ballad tone of swayful rhythm, while "Life In A Lonely Grave" makes us feel like striding across the world in slinky motion, graceful yet astounding to its magnified and soulful theme of a possible revelation. "Clearly Insane" wrenches us from our comfort zones into a spiral of heavy upflow-downflow, as "No Mercy" also rips into us with a beat where even our pulses start drumming in rapid succession with.
I hear the cover tracks (URIAH HEEP - Rainbow Demon, ABBA - Knowing Me, Knowing You, ACCEPT - Losing More Than You Ever Had) on this album are a wonder as well, though I have only obtained the U.S. version of "Modus Vivendi".
When you get down to it, "Modus Vivendi" is an excellent release and well worth buying, and once that copy gets scratched up, buy it again! If you enjoy bands like MASTERPLAN, JAG PANZER, HAMMERFALL, and even some older metal gods like IRON MAIDEN, you'll love the selection of material that is on offer here.
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