Mental Home


Funeral Service
1994 MCS
Funeral Service
  1. Intro
  2. 1672 Inquisition*
  3.  In Dream
  4.  My Final Words
  5.  Expiration*
  6.  Funeral Service
  7.  Out Of Picture*
  8.  Cemetary Flowers
  9.   Keep Silence
Line-Up
Sergey Dmitriev - Vocal/Guitar
Roman Povarov - Lead Guitar
Denis Samusev - Bass
Igor Dmitriev - Drums
Evan's View


Mirrorlands
1995 MCD
Mirrorlands
  1. Dreaming Beneath The Rain
  2. Amidst The Waves
  3. Drowned
  4. Mirrorland
  5. Cemetary Flowers (Remix)
  6. Outro
Line-Up
Sergey Dmitriev - Vocal/Guitar
Roman Povarov - Lead Guitar
Denis Samusev - Bass
Igor Dmitriev - Drums
Evan's View


Vale
1996 Morbid Noizz Records
Vale
  1. Stranger Dove
  2. Southern Calm Waters
  3. Aevin's Cage
  4. The Euphoria
  5. The Vale
  6. My Necklace
  7. Christmas Mercy
  8. Their Finest Voyage
Line-Up
Sergey Dmitriev - Vocal/Guitar
Sergey Kalachov - Lead Guitar
Roman Povarov - Keyboards
Denis Samusev - Bass
Igor Dmitriev - Drums
Evan's View


Black Art
1997 The End Records
Black Art
  1. Under The Wing (Of Gamayun)
  2. The Plague Omen
  3. Into The Realms Of Marena
  4. Silent Remembrance
  5. In The Shades Of Inspiration
  6. Pagan Freedom
  7. Winter Art
  8. On A Hand Of The Universe
  9. Tides Of Time
Line-Up
Sergey Dmitriev - Vocal/Guitar
Sergey Kalachov - Lead Guitar
Michael "MAIDEN" Smirnoff - Keyboards
Denis Samusev - Bass
Igor Dmitriev - Drums
Evan's View


Upon the Shores of Inner Seas
2000 The End Records
Upon the Shores of Inner Seas
  1. Downstairs
  2. Late To Revise
  3. Eternal Moan
  4. Bliss
  5. Against My Will
  6. Breakdown
  7. Stained
  8. Amidst The Waves'99
Line-Up
Sergey Dmitriev - Vocal/Guitar
Konstantin Kuznetsov - Lead Guitar
Michael "MAIDEN" Smirnoff - Keyboards
Denis Samusev - Bass
Igor Dmitriev - Drums
Evan's View

At this point, I don't think that anything that I write could do this album justice. In a nutshell, Mental Home here have atoned for every pompous entry into the annals of classically based metal.  Which is where the true irony enters into play
here, for by every account, I should find Upon the Shores... an overblown affair laden with cheap keyboard sounds and triggered drums, yet instead I have found an album with which I can easily connect to.  Having all of the ingredients does not necessitate fine cuisine, something necessary needed to add the extra spark required to make the average superior.  Call it what you will, but in this regard Mental Home excel, and as I've tried to say simply in the last 5 sentences, the album is amazing. I curse my ineptitude and blocky writing, for what this album truly deserves is something poetically written to explain the incredible use of melody, but with me as your guide through this, you'll have to accept my words.  "Reviewing" this is difficult, partially because I'm constantly hearing something new, but also because this is a body of work better left undissected and experienced as a whole.  I  mentioned classically based, and this may be an ignorant statement, but the arrangements here remind me of works that I have heard (albeit in limited quantity), seamlessly put together, allowing complex structures to ebb and flow, part of what makes this album so necessary.  There are human flaws, a forced drum fill here, 
some iffy production there, but this all becomes a part of the album, and when one of the many guitar solos comes through your speakers, demanding your attention, any small marks are instantly forgotten.  To me, comparable to Dissection in that the album transcends anything else in terms of the degree of emotional content. Highly, highly recommended to any and all that find "beauty in darkness".
10 out of 10
 


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all reviews copyright 2000 Evan Howell