Mekong Delta The Music Of Erich Zann LP Death metal Atheist Coroner Exodus toxik

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34

Brand new, sealed. Officially released on HIGH ROLLER RECORDS from GERMANY. 
MEKONG DELTA The Music of Erich Zann LP MARBLE COLORED VINYL
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Wolfgang Borgmann - Vocals Reiner Kelch, Frank Fricke - Guitars Ralf Hubert - Bass, Guitars Jörg Michael - Drums
01. Age of Agony 02. True Lies 03. Confession of Madness 04. Hatred 05. Interludium (Begging for Mercy) 06. Prophecy 07. Memories of Tomorrow 08. I, King, Will Come 09. The Final Deluge 10. Epilogue 11. The Gnom (bonus track)

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Remastered by Patrick W. Engel at TEMPLE OF DISHARMONY in 2024
With their sophomore full-length, Mekong Delta expanded on the progressive thrash metal formula they had established on their debut in 1987. Released only one year later, “The Music of Erich Zann” is a fully fledged concept album based on the story of the same title by cult horror author H.P. Lovecraft.
“Being a fan of his works, I had been toying with the idea for quite a while”, says band leader Ralf Hubert. “The story of a solitary musician who fights evil with his playing actually ticks all the boxes for metal, yet since I saw it as an allegory of the time back then, the lyrics had to be particularly consistent.” Together with Rage front man Peavy Wagner, who had also written the lyrics for the first record, the group created an atmospherically dense and engaging album which, while taking countless twists and turns, was more on point than its predecessor.
While ‘Hatred’ and ‘Confession of Madness’ serve as angry attacks on real-life politics and the media, ‘Interludium’ (from Bernard Herrmann’s iconic soundtrack to Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller masterpiece “Psycho”) and the initial bonus track ‘The Gnome’ (Modest Mussorgsky, whose works Mekong Delta have frequently cited throughout their entire career) highlight the quartet’s penchant for avant-garde and classical music.
Add tracks like the breakneck ‘True Lies’ or the expansive ‘I, King, Will Come’, and you have a compelling musical narrative for which the term “thinking man’s metal” seems to have been invented. This 2024 edition of “The Music of Erich Zann” was remastered by Patrick W. Engel.

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Mekong Delta: Artist Overview
Mekong Delta is a German progressive thrash metal band founded in 1985 by bassist and producer Ralph Hubert. The band's early career was shrouded in mystery, with members using pseudonyms to conceal their true identities, a decision made out of concern that German musicians wouldn't be taken seriously on the international metal stage. This mystique, combined with their intricate and highly intellectual music, quickly set them apart from their peers. Mekong Delta’s sound is a unique and challenging fusion of furious thrash metal riffs, complex time signatures, and a profound influence from classical music, often incorporating full arrangements of pieces by composers like Mussorgsky into their work.
The band's discography is a testament to their continuous experimentation and evolution. Early albums like The Music of Erich Zann (1988) showcased their technical prowess and fascination with H.P. Lovecraft's horror literature. Their sound fully matured on the seminal album Dances of Death (and Other Walking Shadows) (1990), which is widely considered their masterpiece. The album featured a side-long, multi-part suite and showcased a level of compositional ambition rarely seen in the thrash metal genre. The band has had a revolving door of talented musicians, including well-known drummers like Jörg Michael and Uli Kusch, and has released over a dozen albums throughout their long and storied career.
Mekong Delta's impact is that of a pioneer who pushed the boundaries of what was possible within heavy metal. They are often cited as one of the very first technical thrash bands, and their seamless blend of aggression with sophisticated musicality laid the groundwork for countless bands in the progressive metal and technical death metal scenes that followed. While they never achieved mainstream commercial success, they have maintained a loyal and devoted cult following, and their music remains a standard for intellectual and highly technical metal. They have proven that heavy music can be as challenging and rewarding as classical composition.
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