From the land that brings you Ikea and Knäckebröd, comes the sensational and unique metal band Mister Misery with a brand-new album. ”Mister Misery”, the self-titled third album launched a day before their big Wacken Open Air performance. At Wacken our reporter Antonie spoke with the lovely fellas about the process of making this album. Which you can see right here.
This album starts with the banger ”Root of All Evil’‘, which immediately sets the tone right. The intro is heavy, with some good drums and some up-tempo riffs. But the song changes as soon as it hit the chorus. The singer changes from growling to clean vocals with slower riffs, and changes back to growling like it isn’t a big deal.
Flowing into the next song ”Erzsébet (The Countess)” we have some ancient history. A story about Elizabeth Bathory, a countess from Hungary which is one of the first alleged serial killers of hundreds of girls and woman. Legend says she bathed in the blood of virgins to retain her youth. In the song they refer to her as Erzsébet the mighty queen of death. The song is a tribute and hints to a possible resurrection of the countess, as can be heard in the chorus. The lyrics are easy to sing along with and the funky chorus makes this song a homage to the mighty queen. Let’s hope this sing along doesn’t exactly let her resurrect.
The next song makes some bandmembers nervous, because it is hard to play live. I’m really hoping the nerves won’t stop them from playing ”The Doomsday Clock” live. It starts with an intro of 24 seconds with simply a guitar and when the drums start to play you feel that it is about to get heavy. While by ”Root of All Evil” the chorus is slowly, and the verses are heavier. The band here surprises you by doing the exact opposite: slow verses with a heavy chorus. They achieve this by letting the drums not play during the entire song. Sometimes just a guitar can set the whole scene of a song. Really looking forward to seeing them preform this song live during their upcoming tour.
From the ashes of ”The Doomsday Clock” we arrive straight at a horror movie. The sinister sound of a music box really gives me goosebumps. The perfect scene for ”The Crooked Man”, an old nursery rhyme about a crooked man. While the true meaning of the rhyme is unknown, some say it is a warning, others say it’s about politics. Mister Misery turns it into a campfire tale about a murderer. For the lovers of good horror story this song is a really nice lullaby with some eerie spooky sounding guitars.
With a lovely goodnight kiss there is no time to sleep. Because wakey wakey ”Survival of the Sickest” comes knocking on your door. With heavy drums, guitar and bass this song will blast through your speakers with a high tempo, some deep lyrics about mental health and some growling by Harley Vendetta. This combination of elements makes ”Survival of the Sickest” my personal favourite song of this new album and I bet you do too. Because this one is stuck in your head from the very first second and the perfect anthem for live crowds.
What is a metal album without a song about good versus evil? With ”Sinner or Saint” Mister Misery fulfil this requirement. Split into two parts where growling changes into singing. ”Sinner or Saint” gives you the feeling of having a devil and an angel on your shoulder. The instrumental part changes with the vocals, which set the right tone. ”Sinner or Saint” is a very unique and diverse song and fits into the album.
Mister Misery describes their genre as uncategorizable and hate to be put into one specific genre. After listening to their third album. I can totally agree with them. This album has songs that are very good standalones. But put together makes it the perfect combination for a metal lover with not a specific kind of taste.
Mister Misery is touring Europe this Fall, and you can get your tickets at mistermisery.com
Rating: 8/10
Release Date: 2nd August 2024
Label: AFM Records
Writer: Milou
Tracklist:
- Root of All Evil
- Erzsébet (The Countess)
- Eye of the Storm
- Hand of Death
- The Doomsday Clock
- Crooked Man
- Survival of the Sickest
- Until the End
- Haters
- Sinner or Saint
- Ripper
- Dark Legacy
