ALBUM REVIEW: Mister Misery – Mister Misery

Breaking into any genre, especially in metal, follows certain unspoken rules – generally speaking, the smaller the pool is, the shallower the water. While any attempt to crack the horror metal scene lends itself to inevitable comparisons or denigrations to the big fish of ICE NINE KILLS or MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, MISTER MISERY have done well for themselves in the face of the competition; the Swedish outfit have carved out their own space in the niche handily. What they’ve lacked in any serious grit over their first two albums – 2019’s Unalive and 2021’s A Brighter Side Of Death – has been counterbalanced by an absolute onslaught of campy theatrics that are, for any and all faults, fun.

So where does that leave their self-titled attempt number three? Non-deviant, in those regards at least. In fact, the whole album travels the same razor-straight line as the previous two, in terms of being MISTER MISERY-branded and nothing much else. The metalcore core of proceedings remains intact, with lead track Root Of All Evil re-establishing the set “big riff, clean chorus, breakdown” precedent from the jump. They do these basics very well, a point reinforced by brethren numbers Hand Of Death (where vocalist Harley Vendetta’s range really shines) and the industrial-tinged Doomsday Clock thundering along at a nice enough clip.

It’s telling, though, that where there is any measure of individuality across the 12 tracks is where your mileage may suddenly vary. Ezrebet (The Countess) trades some of the riffier punches for an anthemic piece of gothica that sits nicely in between the more metalcore efforts but feels a little languid at points. Meanwhile, the haunting kids’ TV show aesthetics of Crooked Man are at best a bit daft and, at worst, punishingly grating. Even here, though, the difference makers are barely a stone’s throw from what the band have put out before in terms of being the “fun” side of the runtime – MISTER MISERY following the motions set out by an incredibly highly polished playbook is their strength and their curse, it seems.

There’s only so many times you can strike a hot iron before the temperature starts to drop and the noise becomes a little unbearable. This is very much the case third time out for MISTER MISERY; the lack of innovation and experimentation is clearly by design and, after two albums that already stuck fast to the tenements, another one in basically the same vein sticks in the craw instead. It’s a fine formula, and MISTER MISERY are bloody good at what they’re up to. But it’s very difficult to say that this isn’t one for the purists; if you love MISTER MISERY, here’s another 46 minutes of them that you will love exactly as much as before.

Rating: 6/10

Mister Misery is out now via AFM Records.

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