Album Review: Molybaron – The Mutiny

After the French-Irish quartet Molybaron recently landed a deal with InsideOut Music / Sony Music Entertainment, and have re-released their album The Mutiny.

Singer Gary Kelly says:

“We’re absolutely delighted to have joined forces with the awesome team at Inside Out Music / Sony Music. Every kid who picks up a guitar dreams of joining a big label one day and after 6 years of hard grind, we’ve finally done it!  We look forward to a bright future together. Let’s get to work!”

The album starts all delicate as the band fade the metal in with first track ‘Animals’. A brutal riffed up monster with some wild drumming with some gorgeous melodic moments especially with Kelly’s falsetto. Straight away you notice how tight the band are with the even changing rhythms of the track.

The three singles stand proud on this album with ‘Lucifer’ and its huge chorus and epic riff. The country twist of ‘Twenty Four Hours’ that features Whitfield Crane from Ugly Kid Joe lending his belting vocals too the already impressive vocals from Kelly. ‘Something For The Pain’ is bass heavy and leans towards the prog side of the band and goes all industrial on the chorus.

The prog aspects are also found in track ‘Amongst The Boys And The Dead Flowers’ with its gothic vocals as Kelly really shines on this track as his voice drives the track over the raging guitars and drums. The guitar solo is pretty damn amazing too. You have to hand it to these guys, they can certainly play. The crazy bass on ‘Prosperity Gospel’ and the mind bending riff on the chorus are testament to just how well they can play and how damn tight they are.

Taking a step back ‘The Lighthouse’ opens with some gorgeous arpeggio guitar that allows Kelly to bring his trembling and haunting tenor to the fold. He sounds so good with just the deeper guitar sound underneath. The track a gives the album some breathing space after as even when the rest of the band joins in the track has a lighter arrangement than the rest of the album.

‘Slave To The Algorithm’ is a monster of a track that jumps straight out the starting blocks with an epic riff that doesn’t give up throughout. Theres also a claim to the best metal solo this year in this track. The band no when to let things fly when the song demands it. The album falls straight into’The Hand That Feeds You’ which chugs along with thick bass and math rock style flourishes. Both these tracks have an urgency about them.

Final track ‘Ordinary Madness’ sees Kelly’s vocals getting more desperate as the track goes on. The drumming is top notch on this track during the breakdown in particular Greneron doesn’t let up and it works so well keeping the high pace of the track up whilst also making it sound lighter as the rest of the band take the foot off the pedal.

The overriding theme of the songs describe the uphill struggle to overcome mental health issues – depression, guilt, drug and alcohol use. The music itself reflects the struggle that also seems to be a personal thing from the band members. The song writing is just a step above most bands of this genre as they push each song to its limits.

There’s a lot to be said for Kelly input but the rest of the band can’t be ignored. The tracks are built up with impressive musicianship with some wonderful complicated passages that make this album shine. Steven Andre melts his fretboard several times colouring the songs with his guitar playing. And the tracks often have a touch of math rock with the sharp bass of Sebastien De Saint-Angel and the relentless drumming from Camille Greneron. Who has moments of insane drumming that reflects the rest of the track. The band bring the heavy but also add a touch of melodic magic. The Mutiny is a well deserved reissue.

Check out the album opener, below:

Find out more via the bands Website or Facebook

Purchase the album here