Whenever a band portrays an image that isn’t just 5 brooding guys in jeans and a t-shirt, my attention is peaked. Image has been a huge part of heavy metal since it’s inception. Rob Halford and the leader clad boom, the giant hair and make up in the 80s, flashy signature guitars, the insane beards of nu-metal. It’s a way to stand out, and it serves many bands extremely well – just ask Slipknot. Of course this has to be backed up my musical quality for a band to really stand out (and the test of time). So here we have A Brighter Side of Death, the second album from Swedish horror themed melodic metal band Mister Misery. Is this just a fancy image, or does the music hold up too?
Starting off with Ballad of The Headless Horsemen, there is no messing around. After a few seconds of ambient build up, were straight into pumping melodic metalcore. If you were expecting to hear music similar to Avatar or Ice Nine Kills – their visual comparison, you will not be disappointed. The arrangement and songwriting is top drawer in this field. Only the penultimate song on the track (before the orchestral close) breaches 6 minutes. It’s nice to see no overindulgence which could push tracks into the boring zone – not that I think Mister Misery are capable of this anyway.
Buried slows things down in a more straight forward track, before the highlight of the album Mister Hyde makes his appearance. There is no escaping the Ice Nine Kills comparison on this track, but take nothing away from the terrific track this is. The soaring chorus is destined for the stage. Devil in Me and I’ll Never Be Yours turn the melodic up to the max, and venture into that radio hard rock/metal territory that’s hard to pinpoint to a specific genre.
When we get to the second half of the album is a bit mixed. Whilst individually they are all good, there isn’t enough to separate them aside from creepy carnival hymn Clown Prince of Hell and pop punk anthem Home. The aforementioned lack of overindulgent track lengths prevents it from getting boring however, and the album continues to flow. We Don’t Belong and Through Hell are quite generic anthemic metalcore and don’t add much new to the album. These 2 tracks could have been skipped to bring down the runtime. The sombre tones of Home feel like a more natural closing album track anyway.
Whilst a couple of tracks heavy, Mister Misery have definitely hit gold with A Brighter Side of Death. Enough catchy hooks and energy to raise the dead. The first few tracks pump out an album’s worth destruction to fight off the armies of the underworld on their own. An album to push these creatures of the underworld up through the crumbled earth into the nightmares of the unsuspecting masses. Resist at your peril.
Score: 7.5/10
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