{"id":84806,"date":"2020-06-19T00:00:37","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T23:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=84806"},"modified":"2020-07-20T15:26:08","modified_gmt":"2020-07-20T14:26:08","slug":"ep-review-mordred-volition-ep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/ep-review-mordred-volition-ep\/","title":{"rendered":"MORDRED – Volition EP (2020) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

MORDRED
Volition EP<\/strong><\/span>
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\nSelf-released (2020)<\/span>
Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Around 30 years ago, my beloved Liverpool Football Club, a team I\u2019ve supported since childhood, won their last top flight English league trophy; the old First Division title. During that 1989 \/ 90 season, San Francisco, California-based experimental thrashers Mordred released their brilliant debut album Fool\u2019s Game<\/em>. And as I write this review, Liverpool has just won the league again, and their first Premiere League title. I should be buzzing, but the anticlimactic feel has been overwhelming due to a world in turmoil.<\/p>\n

Mordred has just released a brand new EP, their first record since June 1994\u2019s The Next Room<\/em>, and once more I should be buzzing, but again there\u2019s that anticlimactic feeling.<\/p>\n

Mordred were one of my favourite bands back in the late 80s \/ early 90s, and their second opus In This Life<\/em> (1991) remains in my top ten records of all time. However, like many bands they lost their way and eventually split in 1995. In the 00s I kept a rather clunky blog going in their memory; I was keeping their flag flying, never letting their name die. I was never expecting them to reform and tour, but they did\u2026 so I must admit to a degree of anxiety in reviewing this new four-track EP.<\/p>\n

I kept telling myself that the disappointment was due to the current state of the world, a planet zapped by a virus and drained by government scaremongering, but no. While I expect Mordred die-hard fans to be salivating over the new release, probably due to blind and somewhat arse-licking excitement, I\u2019m also expecting band members \u2013 who I have met over the years \u2013 to be banging on my door when they read this review. But I also hope they\u2019ll take my words as constructive, because my reviews, unlike many, are always brutally honest.<\/p>\n

So, where do we begin? Mordred \u2013 with the exception of drummer Jeff Gomes, who replaced Gannon Hall \u2013 features the same line-up responsible for the aforementioned In This Life<\/em> album and the excellent 1992 Vision<\/em> EP.<\/p>\n

This a bunch of guys with no boundaries due to their influences, and it\u2019s worth noting that Mordred has always been a hard act to pin down sound wise, in spite of the metallic crunch.<\/p>\n

Of course, since the halcyon days much has changed, particularly with technology, and the members \u2013 Scott Holderby (vocals), Danny White and James Sanguinetti (guitars), Art Liboon (bass) and Aaron \u201cPause\u201d Vaughn (keyboards and turntables) \u2013 have matured.<\/p>\n

Mordred have been teasing fans over the last few years with mentions of new work, and so this new EP is very much that \u2013 a teaser, a snippet of what\u2019s to come with the new album The Dark Parade<\/em>. However, I certainly hope that the full-length record fares better than Volition<\/em>, because the reality here is that this four-tracker lacks bite, snap, edge and conviction.<\/p>\n

Now, bearing in mind I\u2019ve listened to this EP at least 30 times, it just feels a tad forced, rather glossy, and formulaic. Opener \u2018Not For You\u2019 begins with a solid enough groove, with Pause\u2019s scratchboards addding extra levels of hipness, but by the time Scotty Holderby\u2019s chops emerge over a thrashing chug I\u2019m left underwhelmed \u2013 although I\u2019m sure the track will work better live.<\/p>\n

Mordred were always light years ahead went it came to fusing metal, rap etc., but since so much has suffocated our ears and brains since the 90s and the hideous nu metal charge, I don\u2019t feel as if \u2018Not For You\u2019 stands out from it all, especially when I\u2019ve heard unreleased Mordred tracks that fare so much better. Sure, the political commentary is edgy, as is the nifty lead that squirms its way through the chug, but like so many bands who\u2019ve reformed the dynamics seem a tad off… or maybe it\u2019s just me, still revelling in those constantly fresh grooves of, say, \u2018Falling Away\u2019, \u2018West County Hospital\u2019 etc.<\/p>\n

But, opinions are like arseholes, and everybody has one and mine is that \u2018Not For You\u2019 is not the kaleidoscopic face-ripper I was expecting. So imagine then my disappointment then at the stripped back and rather soulless modern rap \/ grime trickle of \u2018What Are We Coming To\u2019. Damn, the effect on Holderby\u2019s vocal, the all too modern bland beat, and even Pause can\u2019t save this from being a generic contemporary rap song that at any other time I\u2019d expect to see some Tik Tok idiot prancing along to. Maybe I\u2019m just getting old, but again I expected something more to this rather basic, no frills composition \u2013 especially knowing Pause\u2019s credentials and influences.<\/p>\n

Next up is the metallic strut of \u2018The Love Of Money\u2019. Now to be honest, if I\u2019d never grown up with the likes of The Organization et al then maybe I\u2019d be salivating over this track far more than I am, but it is the best track so far. The mid-pace guitar, the steady drum thud, and Scotty sounds great; his buzzing vocal sneer harkening back to those halcyon days of In This Life<\/em> and Vision<\/em>. But for me, the production seems a tad thin; Art Liboon\u2019s bass doesn\u2019t seem to judder, the drums lack oomph, and again there\u2019s that underwhelming feeling however loud I turn it up. Even so, as expected, Mordred as a unit brings catchiness to the tune.<\/p>\n

But what really puts the trio of previously mentioned tracks into perspective, is the familiar strains of \u2018The Baroness\u2019; a song that\u2019s been around a while, having previously been released as a digital single back in 2015. \u2018The Baroness\u2019 continues to showcase all that is great about this band \u2013 the snappy vocal display, the infectious riff, the killer scratches and general feel fusing together a Public Enemy-styled attitude with all that we know and love about Mordred\u2019s sublime sound.<\/p>\n

Lyrically the flow is as cool as ice, taking the Mordred sound above and beyond what everyone else was attempting in the 90s. And what I mean by this is that every man and his dog were attempting hip hop and metal hybridisation, but the results were cringe-worthy, like Body Count, with dull as dishwater riffs and jives. Mordred were always outside of that realm and a step ahead. So I guess while I\u2019m always appreciative of the hip hop slant, and as much of In This Life<\/em> and Vision<\/em> proved, it wasn\u2019t necessary all the time. Old tracks such as \u2018West County Hospital\u2019, \u2018Downtown\u2019, \u2018Esse Quam Videri\u2019, \u2018Crash\u2019 maintained their own levels of diversity and unpredictability, and in a sense, within this EP, I don\u2019t hear that. In fact, I almost know what\u2019s coming next.<\/p>\n

But hey, I\u2019m here, as a reviewer and a mega fan, to critique and add my voice to what is essentially a rather tepid return. On the stage however, the tracks may take on a bestial form and prove me wrong. I dunno, something just doesn\u2019t sit right with me. My issues also stretch towards the cover art too, but that\u2019s just a personal thing, as are the rest of my quibbles and praises.<\/p>\n

However, before the band starts to prepare the electric chair for me, please remember that I\u2019m just being protective and honest towards a band that changed my life. I was there phoning up Noise Records to complain when Scotty Holderby left the band in 1993, and I was there collecting every live gig, bootleg, unreleased track and chasing after every obscure rap act DJ Pause mentioned. Maybe, just maybe, Volition<\/em> is not for me during a time when everything else feels kinda underwhelming; it\u2019s just not been the pick-me-up I expected… though it might be for you? But, and to quote Ozzy Osbourne, \u201cI love you all\u201d. Now, where is \u2018Can\u2019t Help\u2019, \u2018Crash\u2019, \u2018Queen Of A Broken Throne\u2019 etc?<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MORDREDVolition EP Self-released (2020)Rating: 6\/10 Around 30 years ago, my beloved Liverpool Football Club, a team I\u2019ve supported since childhood, won their last top flight English league trophy; the old First Division title. During that 1989 \/ 90 season, San Francisco, California-based experimental thrashers Mordred released their brilliant debut album Fool\u2019s Game. And as I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1313],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-mordred"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84806"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84808,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84806\/revisions\/84808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}