A Mended Rhyme - Reviews

This review can be found here: http://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/Tad_Morose/A_Mended_Rhyme/2143/

Tad Morose really came into their own on "A Mended Rhyme". This is a record with everything in the right place-well paced guitars with keyboards that don't overbear and meander, driving bass locked in tight with the explosive drumming and the powerful soaring vocals of Urban Breed whose fine talents are now lent to Bloodbound.

"Circuit Vision" is the opening track and starts off things with a Symphony X vibe (think "Evolution (The Grand Design)" ) but quickly shuffles towards classic heavy metal territory with its rather raw riff. Urban Breed shines with might on this one but does so even more on the next one, "But Angels Shine" whose doom like trance of the riff he utilizes to theatrical effect, layering his vocals in a bizarre start stop format that is undeniably wonderful. The song is infectious and hard not to remember.
The title track comes next with all the fury and drama of a Jag Panzer song and it doesn't disappoint. Fredrik Eriksson really owns this one. His keyboards maintain enough presence without being overpowering and simply pervade like the air in a room.

"The Trader Of Souls" is VERY reminiscent of Dream Theater's "The Mirror" and as a result is one of the album's truly progressive songs. Peter Morén starts it off playing odd patterns on his kt that would make Mike Portnoy raise an eyebrow. Krunt's guitar arrives soon after with a chugging riff that is ultra groovy. Things get thrashier in the chorus with Urban Breed's voice soaring with fury a la Harry Conklin.
"The Dragon Tide" and "Goddess Of Chaos" complement each other well enough, each mostly relying on the interplay between Krunt's riffing and heavenly soloing thust against Eriksson's keyboards to create a tangible epic landscape.
"The Vacant Lot" is a catchy tune with some rather grim lyrics that are superbly delivered by UB.

Closing song "Guest Of Inquisition" is rather laid back and draws from the mood of "Sender Of Thoughts". Its prog layers are undermined by Krunt's crunchier riffing and the result is pure Prog/Power juxtaposition.
And thus ends Tad Morose's gallery of unintentional but well intentioned classics. This is supreme material...don't just casually peruse it, I suggest you OWN it!

(FateMetal, May 2011)

The review can be found here: http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=778

We write the year 1997. Four years before I had won a copy of the TAD MOROSE-debut "Leaving The Past Behind" at "Rock Hard"-magazine. Then all of a sudden I received the news that singer Kristian Andrén had left the band. I was sad and had worried for their future.

Carefully I put in "A Mended Rhyme" and wham! I was floored. Andrén was forgotten, because TAD MOROSE had a new singer - and what a singer! Urban Breed had entered the scene and the Bollnäs-fiver proved to be better than ever, a truly remarkable comeback, absolutely!

Very forceful Power Metal without any "happy"-tendencies, but quite the contrary, with at times almost doomy-dark atmosphere, keyboard-support (which never pushes to the fore, though), great melodies and Urban Breed's brilliant voice.

"A Mended Rhyme" is kicked off by the fast, driving und very catchy "This Circuit Vision", adorned with keyboards and irresistible in its melody-lines, a brilliant beginning for a killer-album, crowned by the first taste of Urban Breed, where did that guy hide before? After that "But Angels Shine" steps down into more sluggish, yes almost doomy, but just as powerful, spheres, showcasing the other, equally great side of TAD MOROSE. The title-track then varies between these two "extremes" and is just like the rest very catchy, but without even remotely getting shallow.

I could continue like this, but "A Mended Rhyme" just has got no fillers, in the course of the album we still get epic/fast stuff ("The Dragon Tide"), epic/mid-paced stuff (the brilliant "Time Of No Sun") and also heavy/slow-paced stuff ("The Vacant Lot"), all on an equally very high level, musically as vocally, with Urban Breed the Bollnäs-troop has made an incredibly good catch, no doubt!

Brilliant, cliché-free, original Power Metal with doomy elements and world-class-vocals, that's TAD MOROSE, period!

(Alex, date unknown)