Progressive metal has been in a downward spiral in the last few years. Since the latter half of the 2010’s, the genre has been chasing the lowest common denominator with djent and pop influences, slowly killing the point of the progressive numerator. Bands like Leprous and Haken that once dropped heavy hitter albums like Bilateral, Coal, and The Mountain nowadays chase success with a watered down version of their sound. Similarly the case if you look at Voyager, Caligula’s Horse, and Soen. We’re lucky to have Norway’s Madder Mortem, then, as they embody the word progressive to a fault, never doing the same thing between any of their albums. You can always recognize a Madder Mortem song, yet not point to a stale formula in its construction. This is the mark of a band that writes progressively rather than chasing trends. And much of this seems to be at the core of Old Eyes, New Heart — an exploration of the feelings involved of letting go of artistic pride and bringing forth your true voice (a common theme in this band’s lyrics, it seems to me). The promotional text for this release describes the relationship of guitarist/harsh vocalist BP M. and lead vocalist Agnete M. Kirkevaag to the their father Jakob, who passed away months before the album released. In this context, which points straight to the ideas of letting go and finding a voice, it’s impossible not to read into the lyrics of “Master Tongue” and “Towers”, as Jakob was also an artist (painter) and a supporter of the band from their very first album.
But the music itself is key here, and Madder Mortem do not disappoint on that front. There is the usual groove focused nu metal writing on “Master Tongue” that if phrased just a bit differently in its final build up could be mistaken for a Soulfly song. There are the fantastic refrains that stick in your head (“The Head That Wears the Crown”), the slower and doom-forward dirge (“Cold Hard Rain”) and the aggressively building vocal attacks (“Towers”). A slight Americana influence infects “On Guard”, where the downcast feel combined with wordless vocalizations in the opening song carry shades of Leprous. “Unity” moves through the initial mode of Madder Mortem‘s debut, Mercury, that mixes The Gathering-esque goth alt metal writing with a refrain straight out of 80’s progressive rock like Rush.
Old Eyes, New Heart carries on in the same direction as the last two albums, mixing light moments of floating alternative rock with harsh dirges and occasional dissonance beneath the surface. But it never quite repeats itself or the band’s past work. The songs are scattershot in direction, which is not unusual for this band’s body of work. If anything, Old Eyes, New Heart feels like a victory lap from a band that has managed to stay true to themselves in the face of trends-chasers gaining more success and other hardships. My one critique of this album is that it is not as tight in its flow between songs as an album like Red in Tooth and Claw, or the more heavily progressive work of the early heavy hitters like All Flesh Is Grass. Also, not all of the calmer songs land as well as they did on Marrow. Possibly a grower, this album will still outdo most other progressive metal in ’24, and Madder Mortem are a treasure of the progressive metal genre that deserve much more attention as one of the genre’s strongest foundations. In their own words “Clinging on to what defeats you, you’re hiding but I see you” — after so many successful releases, we see you Madder Mortem.
