Suicide

Mactatus split up right after releasing by far their best work. Suicide is a concept album based around despair, self loathing, suicide, misery, hatred. The cd itself even comes with a warning to this effect that Mactatus does not condone or encourage self-harm. So, if you enjoy melodic death metal mixed with black metal bombast and relentless manic negativity, Suicide will be your cup of tea. Or cup of blood, or something.

It's a shame yet another early 00s gem of melodeath got lost along the way, and people still go nuts for new In Flames material. Just go back to 02-03 and buy all the albums no-one else did and I guarantee the quality level will be shockingly high. Maybe the piss yellow slit wrist album cover was too intense, and subconsciously put people off buying the album. Musically everything is first rate, and Suicide sounds phenomenal with that excellent Tagtgren production, everything thick and warm, yet clear as ice.

Kjetil Steien's drumming is superb, full-sounding, groovy, ferocious when called for, Hate Rodvitnesson's vocals are full of spite, and the guitars and bass are tightly in the pocket. Suicide contains a mix of gloomy choral vocals combined with black metal shrieking, and both styles mix in well with the keyboard orchestrations. You can tell this is a Telemark band. It has that Norwegian epic swagger. If you somewhat like Dimmu Borgir but want something more legit, more underground, more unpleasant, and slightly dangerous, then Mactatus' swansong album is for you.

Suicide starts with the end, Epilogue - The Tale of the Psychotic, and the songs after are full of twists and turns and passages of thundering double bass and operatic soaring riffs. Nothing is boring here, and none of the musical ideas are throwaway; everything is a little different than the genre's tropes, and all the timings and riff choices are quite unique. The Whisperer and Sanctity of Murder continue the themes of isolation, despair, and wandering psychic hinterlands; the keyboards are never inappropriate and serve to drape layers of crippling melancholy over the crushing metal riffs.

To Distance Death from Life has a haunting violin sample and is the slower song on Suicide, with a more sombre funereal tempo and some interesting piano motives, and a cello coda. It all sounds too much, but it's not. Everything is elegant and aesthetic and ripped with violent aggression. Unusually for metal that veers towards black, the bass is fully present on Suicide and is warm and girthy. I don't know why bands don't make a feature of it more often; it doesn't take away from the cold black metal vibe but rather anchors it and makes it even heavier.

Measurement of Discipline has a more Immortal chaotic-swirling vibe but still throws in slower unsettling spoken word passages. Concluding Act of Violence starts chugging heavily but expands into a snowbound operatic black metal song, touching on Mork Gryning and Dimmu Borgir, but not too much and continuing the Mactatus sound; everything is so coherent on Suicide. It's an excellent if depressing and moderately uncomfortable listen.

Suicide ends with Broken Dreams of Death, again a first rate mix of melodeath and black metal. The only downside to the last Mactatus album, is that they never followed it up. Maybe they realised they had completely fulfilled their sound by making such a complete concept album about the darkest of topics.