adg211288 The Myth of Purity is the debut full-length from UK melodic death metal act Mortad. The act is female fronted and has drawn comparisons with Sweden’s Arch Enemy which after listening to the album I find to be valid at least vocally, since both the lady growlers have similar styles and tones. Mortad’s music however, while it could still be described as melodic death metal, doesn’t carry the typical Gothenburg sound. Still mentioning them in the same breath as Arch Enemy wouldn’t be wrong.

The Myth of Purity is a solid album, but there’s very little here which hasn’t been done before. That’s okay, what we’ve got here is a band that basically says ‘right let’s play some death metal’ and then delivers just that. Mortad may not break the mould with this one but the album does showcase that the musicians have the chops to deliver the style with conviction, and Somi Arian proves an extremely capable vocalist.

There is one slight hiccup in the flow of the otherwise strong experience in the form of the track I'm Not Interested in Being Interesting, which just wasn’t as good as the rest of the album, but other than that once they kick start things with All That's Born Must Be Destroyed we’re talking pretty much a powerhouse of an album that does contain the odd little surprise within its ten tracks, such as the use of a few symphonic elements during The Voice.

Ultimately I’m impressed with The Myth of Purity and although Mortad has a long way to go before I could consider what they’re doing to be of a masterful quality, this shows much promise. Keeping in mind those Arch Enemy comparisons Mortad doesn’t deliver anything here that Arch Enemy haven’t done better, but I’ve always felt that Arch Enemy has had an inconsistent career and while The Myth of Purity isn’t as good as Arch Enemy at their strongest it’s a better album than Arch Enemy at their weakest. I think fans of Arch Enemy and other melodeath acts will definitely enjoy this one.

7.3/10

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org))