I first heard of Mother of All when I asked the Trans-Dimensional Being of Extreme Punctuation what melodeath he liked. The Notorious B.O.E.P. recommended Mother of All’s debut, Age of the Solipsist, which I immediately took to. As such I put my hand up for follow-up Global Parasitic Leviathan, but I must admit there was a degree of trepidation. Age of the Solipsist succeeded because of its accessible weirdness and smart use of Steve DiGiorgio (Testament) on bass. Mother of All mastermind Martin Haumann didn’t have DiGiorgio’s services for Global Parasitic Leviathan, and men who write weird albums tend to switch sounds quickly.
So what sound would it be this time?
Global Parasitic Leviathan isn’t weird but it has its own charms. Haumann’s songwriting is very reminiscent of late era Death in its polished, melodic take on death metal except with a pissed off density that’s like late era At The Gates. Haumann’s vocals even sound like a mix of Chuck Schuldiner and Tomas Lindberg. It makes for a catchy and muscular take on melodeath. Opener “Cosmic Darkness” captures the Mother of All experience – an opening melody you can whistle, some furious drumming from Haumann, thrashy riffs, and a very Death-esque solo. Haumann’s songwriting remains very rhythmically focused and while there’s no DiGiorgio, you can hear new man Michael Moller doing some very interesting things, particularly on “Corporate Warfare Leviathan”. That focus doesn’t detract at all from the guitar-led nature of the music though as Henrik Rangstrup and Frederik Øgaard Jensen get a choice selection of guitar lines to play. The At The Gates-esque “The Stars Already Faded” and the downbeat leads of “Merchants of Self-Loathing” are both highlights, although my favorite is closer “Hollows”, with its grandly wistful melodies that remind me of nothing so much as early Insomnium.
That emotive ending invites a sense of reflection at the end of Mother of All’s snarling at the world’s problems. It’s smart album writing to go with smart songwriting that is at once varied and cohesive. Martin Haumann and his band have barely put a foot wrong here and the only real criticism I can muster is no song has completely captivated me yet. That yet is important though. I’ll be giving this Global Parasitic Leviathan plenty more chances to swallow me up.
