MEDUSA’S CHILD – Immortal … Mind Cohesion

Medusa’s Child is a German Power Metal quintet (with a few Progressive tendencies) formed originally in 1999, and following a Demo in 2000 and an EP in 2001, Immortal … Mind Cohesion represents the band’s first full length CD … and it’s one of those CDs with a split personality … funny how a CD with polar differences within itself would include the oxymoron-ish term “Mind Cohesion” in it’s title.

First is the musical style … Medusa’s Child shifts from what seems to clearly be Progressive tendencies to Power Metal to an Industrial-Techno Metal feel (similar to Rammstein) to totally mellow and reflective ballads in “Tears of the Wolf” and “Lionheart.” Other than the latter 2, the odd thing is Medusa’s Child tends to dabble in each style in virtually EVERY SONG!

Second is the vocal style … D.C. Crow, who lists Rob Halford as his favorite singer and primary influence, does in fact succeed quite admirably in emulating his musical icon when ripping off the high notes. In fact, his high notes are about as good as anyone out there when he chooses to go that route – luckily, Crow goes that route quite often. Other times, though, Crow comes through in clumsy fashion when singing in his “normal” voice, and doesn’t seem to mesh seamlessly with the music.

So how about the songs? True to form, almost all of the songs contain periods when they’re absolutely great, yet also contain segments that are less than stellar. No song is awful, but other than “Holy Land,” where Medusa’s Child is successful in staying the course and keeping all of their musical elements in check, no other song is truly able to come through as a complete success from start to finish.

The album starts out with “Mind Cohesion,” which kind of makes you feel like you accidentally stepped into to tribal warfare ritual … it’s actually kind of cool, but loses its flair and uniqueness when it blends into the 2nd track, “ Mother Earth,” which continues this “introduction” for over 2 additional minutes. Essentially between these 2 opening tracks, Medusa’s Child packs in the better part of 4 minutes of wadding before anything “definitive” truly begins! Sorry, but that’s just too damn long for an intro! Once “Mother Earth” gets going, it totally rocks with Tino Saabel’s and Jens Aurich’s twin power-powerchord scheme … however, the epic doesn’t know when to end, and after more musical wadding 3/4ths into it, the song mercifully closes out.

“Holy Land” is next, and at about 3.5 minutes, Medusa’s Child gets “it” all right with this one. The powerchord scheme is fast, raw, and heavy … similar to the great parts of “Mother Earth,” “Eye Of Fire,” and “Center Of The Dark.” Out of the 9 full-length tracks, Immortal … Mind Cohesion contains 2 ballads, as mentioned above, in “Tears of the Wolf” and “Lionheart.” All things considered, these slow down songs have the potential to be total winners … the tendency of stringing out songs for all they’re worth (and then some), however, makes both ballads grow weary before they’re through. The last and namesake track, “Medusa’s Child,” is overall more successful than not … of special note is the use the Ohhhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhhhh vocal pattern similar to Castle Guards for the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. Can’t say that you’ll hear that type of background vocals every day in Metal music, but in the end, it works!

So there you have it … a schizophrenic CD that shows signs of absolute brilliance, yet tendencies of poor judgment in song structure and song-writing at times. When Medusa’s Child is good, they come through great, with crisp, raw power and superb sound. When they’re changing pace, structure, and direction within the context of most of the songs contained within this CD, however, their music suffers from failing to make a statement and lack of apparent direction. Very odd, though, how most of the songs could be both so bad yet so good! Fans of bands with musical styles like Rammstein, though, should definitely give this CD a shot, as should Metal fans who appreciate higher octave vocals … Crow definitely shines when he’s showcasing his Halford-like abilities. Other Metalheadz should probably simply keep their eye on Medusa’s Child to see how their songwriting style progresses for their subsequent release … clearly, if anything, the band demonstrates that they have the fundamental talent to be a great Metal band!