MIRADOR – The Azrael Tales

Under the banner “The Swedish Metal Explosion”, Rivel Records is releasing several hard-hitting albums in February 2005. One of the releases is The Azrael Tales, the debut album of Mirador … and make no mistake about it, this album is killer!

Fronted by Jakob Forsberg (vocals) and Erik Mjornell (guitars), who founded the band back in 1991, Mirador will shake the ground of anyone who ever has paid any interest to Melodic Doom Metal.

You might find after the first few spins of this CD that a revelation may hit you from above. Speaking of revelations, these guys are marketing their Christian faith with this recording too … and God bless them for doing so!

The band has left quite a number of unproductive years behind them. But those days spent on songwriting and production were very well utilized indeed. Many former members have come and gone, creating frustrations within the camp, but the song material has obviously grown stronger and stronger over the years. At last now, in 2005 The Azrael Tales has found its day of release.

The ball opens with “Redeemer,” a gigantic composition. The song comes upon you like an avalanche with its powerful vocals, a Marilyn Manson-ish bridge, great drumming, clever background choiring, and a guitar arrangement that never fails to kick the song up, forward, and beyond — from the beginning to the end.

Track two, “Phoenix Syndrome,” continues where its predecessor left off. Despite a guitar intro that’s a bit odd, the song shows to be almost as majestic as “Redeemer.” It’s hard to pinpoint any detail that should have been done otherwise in the production. On this track, like on all the others, the production is (and this reviewer normally never uses words like this) perfect! The balance between the instruments is absolutely impossible to criticize. Listen to tracks like “Postbelievers,” “Perfect Plan,” or “The Trial,” and you’ll encounter great, great stuff.

All right. From time to time the guitar work fails to be anywhere close to inventive. From time to time the keyboard arrangements get a bit, a bit, pompous. Lastly, the album’s last track, “Metropolis Metamorphosis,” goes on and on to nowhere for a while, but it is hard to tell how this album could have been done differently to make a better product. Even the cover booklet artwork is great (actually, this is the only cover artwork from Rivel Records this month that you won’t find embarrassing).

For once the Christian performers of Doom Metal have showed the rest where to stick their profanity. For once the battle between good and evil seems to be won by the good guys… At the time this review is first published, 2005 will be less than 1.5 months old. If this album doesn’t reach your top ten list by the end of this year, this will indeed be a wonderful year in Metal!

Look for more reviews from Rivel Records and the “Swedish Metal Explosion” to come out soon at Metal Express!