Rickert G. presents his musical project influenced by Melodic Death Metal, originating from Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico. The author was driven by a desire to understand the music of THERION, MEGADETH, IRON MAIDEN and PANTERA, which lead to him studying musical composition at University. The result is that he now claims that he makes music that will remind us as listeners of bands like HYPOCRISY, AMON AMARTH, DARK TRANQUILLITY, OPETH, AT THE GATES and IN FLAMES. That to me sounds as a rather bold statement, and I will let you know if he has a, any or all points.

“Endless Thoughts” was originally self-released in 2021. Now, some four years later it has been picked up by WormHoleDeath, which explains why it has been given a second life. RICKERT G. says that this album was born as an emotional response to the post-traumatic stress disorder caused by psychopathic abuse, which led to mental illness. It became a cathartic therapy to process experiences of psychological and sexual abuse. If that is so, this is quite a powerful statement, as I felt that musically, his brand of Melodic Death Metal mixed with Black Metal and Heavy Metal is very well put together musically.

The songs on “Endless Thoughts” have body, soul and feelings galore, and the way that RICKERT G. has put his compositions together makes a whole lot of sense. It makes for almost 42 minutes of very divers and exciting Metal. What I am not a fan of is that he exclusively uses either a Death Metal grunt of Black Metal scream to bark out the vocals, and it is letting the album as a whole down. He should switch to a Thrash Metal growl and even a clear Melodic Heavy Metal voice when thus music is asking for it. the vocals don’t always fit the feeling and/or intensity of the music on “Endless Thoughts”.

The same goes for the sound on “Endless Thoughts”. RICKERT G. has done everything with the dials on his instruments on the same settings, while I feel that he would have benefitted greatly if he would have diversified and experimented a bit more. I know some of you will think of me as a nitpicker in this respect, but as I feel that this album contains rather good music I really am convinced that by being a little braver, I would have been listening to an outstanding album. He could even have opted to use guest singers. I bet he would have had enough volunteers. All this prevents me from glorifying “Endless Thoughts” instead of just liking it to bits. Now I can only say that RICKERT G. is a good musician that has a lot of promise. Let’s hope he shows it next time.