Delirious?

Item: Mezzamorphis
Author: Joel Thomas

Mezzamorphis

(1999)

Reviewed by Joel Thomas

Discogs Apple Music TIDAL Amazon Music Spotify

Label Furious? Records / Sparrow RecordsExit Zine 19991999

experimental modern rock rock worship

Forget what you know about Deliriou5?; drop any preconceived notions you may have about their new album, entitled Mezzamorphis. Martin Smith, lead singer, says in the press release accompanying the album, "A lot of you have been asking, 'Well, is it like Cutting Edge, is it like King of Fools?' Well, I don't think it's like any of them really. It's a big step for us as a band. It still definitely carries the same spirit and heart after wanting to please God in all that we do."

He goes on to explain that the first track, "The Mezzanine Floor," kind of captures the theme for the album. The song is about how "we're not where we were, but we're not where we want to be yet, either. Y'know, we're not on the second floor yet. And that's to have music that's heard by people inside and outside the church." He points out that the song is about heaven, too.

Heaven is a predominant topic on this album; in fact, one of the most catchy and inspirational songs is entitled "Heaven." "Follow" is a song more in the vein of King of Fools, complete with a chorus (the words "I will follow" sung repeatedly) that I'm sure will be sung in youth groups across the country. The song, like most of the album, however, has a rather experimental sound to it. "Bliss" is a song described by Smith as "a statement song for us," a song that is all about not backing down, but boldly living as a Christian.

The band returns to their somewhat more simplistic musical roots with "Beautiful Sun" and "Metamorphosis," two songs that showcase Martin's vocal range and the ability of Deliriou5? to create songs that are simple, yet extraordinarily beautiful. "See the Star" is another song that fits into the simple "power pop" category, and Deliriou5? delivers another great chorus sure to be a hit by this summer.

Stu G describes "Gravity" as "a really up number on the album. It's a great, hooky tune; the melody and the sounds are fantastic. What the lyric is saying that heaven is calling us but gravity's pulling us...sometimes kinda you don't know which way to look, but obviously we know where we're looking and what way we're going." "Gravity" is another song with a diverse, experimental sound, and the chorus is sure to get crowds jumping at concerts.

Martin says that the next song, "Love Falls Down" is going to be a great song live, as well. He describes it as reflecting "back to some of the Cutting Edge songs, some of the songs on King of Fools. It's talking about getting a whole generation fired up for God." "Blindfold" is a song inspired by the feelings experienced by one of the members and his wife, who had a miscarriage. This song is probably the slowest on the album, yet very powerful. Another slow, personal song for the band is "Kiss Your Feet," which is definitely an all-out praise song.

Quite possibly the most satisfying moment on the record comes with "Jesus Blood," which features a choir, a DJ from New York, and some musical flavor bordering on ambient. This song is definitely one that deserves several intense, "listen closely to get to the deeper levels" listens. The album is ended with a remix of "Deeper," probably the biggest hit off King of Fools.

Lyrically, this album continues Deliriou5?'s tradition of strong, heartfelt, passionate lyrics, mostly centered around God. Musically, this album shows several sides of Deliriou5?. At times, they stick to a simple, yet beautiful, guitar-driven sound. Other times, however, they have an intricate, complicated sound, which they pull off fairly well, too. The key to this album is balance; while some of the more musically ambitious songs toe the line between free-spirited creativity and annoying overproduction, the simple songs round out the album, making it neither boring nor overbearing.

4/5