Mary Shelley – In the Shadow of the Mountain

In the Shadow of the Mountain was the second and last demo Mary Shelley produced. The black metal band, not the author who wrote Frankenstein. If man had harnessed electricity much earlier, do you think black metal would have come about much earlier? I wonder what it would sound like. I wonder what they would sing about. Well, let's stop rambling and review this.

This demo is much better than their last one. For one, the production feels much more powerful. The bass is also much more prominent, thus giving the music much more depth. The guitars are still as great as they were on the last album, but they also have much more variety. Sometimes they'll play more traditional black metal. Other times they'll go into some solemn, melodic parts which are really exemplified on the song “The World Will End in Fire”.

The drums have a much greater presence than on the last album. They're capable of pulling off many more tricks and keep things interesting during the long parts. The vocals are also vastly improved. Instead of doing the traditional rasp, he performs these howls that make him sound like the long forgotten ghost of the wilderness.

In the Shadow of the Mountain really improved upon the work of the last album. Unfortunately, this would be the last we would hear of these guys.