Have you ever wondered what modern melodic death metal might sound like if these up-and-coming bands would take a moment to find a sound that isn’t pure pastiche? Now, I know that might seem critical—and it is. But with so many bands out there that are variations on At the Gates, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and whatever other big name you can think of, pure worship of these bands, who wield extended discographies and active tour schedules, just isn’t enough. That kind of retread with a tinge of mix-up can be good, of course. Just look at our latest rodeö for the proudly olde-reaching Veriteras. So do we need a Global Parasitic Leviathan to save us?
Mother of All thinks we do. You may have assumed by now that Global Parasitic Leviathan is indeed a melodic death metal album up front—true! But if you caught wind of their full-length debut from 2021, Age of the Solipsist, you know that Mother of All wears that title but pushes it until you wonder whether that’s all you can call it. Having featured legendary bassist Steve Digiorgio (Testament, ex-Death, and more), its thrash-loaded and technical approach helped build a face in a scene that often renders faceless. It helps too that main mind Martin Haumann gets around in his own right, ranging, outside of his brainchild Mother of All, in smooth skin-smacking with Danish countrymen Timechild to providing depressive kit-abuse with sadmongers Afsky. And in the plethora of riffs and shakes across Global Parasitic Leviathan, it’s easy to argue that that whole range plays true.
Global Parasitic Leviathan by Mother of All
For Mother of All, the unifying force in eclectic attack comes back to the most essential word in melodic death metal: melody.1 Whether it’s the delicate, dim-lit, clean guitar whimsy that opens “Corporate Warfare Leviathan” or the one-two-Carcassian groove that rips apart “Monuments,” guitarists Henrik Rangstrup (Endarken) and Frederik Jensen (Thus) deliver consistent, high-quality riffs that recur and warp throughout the straightforward structure of each song. In that sense, Mother of All works harder than most bands to find transitional phrases through connecting chords, thrash-informed scale fills, huge cut-away solos, many of which possess the tonal immediacy of late-period Death works (check the sneaky harmonies in “Cosmic Darkness”). And while the guitarwork itself remains buttery smooth and mid-tempo, kitmaster Haumann guides each fretted flurry with a shapeshifting style that could blast around each corner just as easily as it could skank or steady around another.
Unfortunately, that mid-tempo character, as many twists and searing leads that it possesses, can make Global Parasitic Leviathan a slower roll than I would hope for. It’s not the tempo alone, but also some of the mix choices that render the guitars and vocals well above all else,2 and at many times, boosted to ugly, crackling volumes (the un-gradual swell that opens “Cosmic Darkness” or the scratchy acoustic close of “Pillars”). The experience does not lack dynamics entirely, however, with new bassist Michael Møller’s clang providing essential low-end thump around glassy and wailing moments (“The Stars Have Already Faded,” “Pillars”). And a drummer by trade, Haumann likely wouldn’t let any final master exist with his nimble cymbal splashes reduced to crinkles. Yet Haumann himself is not a particularly diverse vocalist in the bark and rasp, so his rhythmic cadences loud and at the top can create a similar-sounding atmosphere in each number, which straddles the line between defining the sound of Mother of All and simply being repetitive.
No matter how you cut it, each song across Global Parasitic Leviathan finds a way to an enjoyable finish, even if all eight songs in sequence don’t always come together as strongly as I want. Undoubtedly too, it’s easy for me to say that I miss the predictably brilliant flourish that Digiorgio brought to the previous outing. But Mother of All is more than just the sum of a legend’s fingers, youthful ideals, and genre patchwork. Global Parasitic Leviathan struts with the swagger of grooving thrash, hooks with the sticky scatterings of melodic death metal, and hammers with cynicism for the trappings of the modern world. Though I do wish I could find myself a little more infected.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self Release
Websites: motherofallofficial.com | motherofallofficial.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: April 12th, 2024
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