I probably have mentioned this many many times already, but we here in Finland have a strong local scene. Smaller bands get bigger and bigger and often release great material. Such an example is Mors Subita. I personally had never heard from them, but have seen their name popping up quite many times in the form of press releases. The melodic death metal band from Oulu, was formed in 2000. In 2018, they finally present us their third full-length album “Into The Pitch Black.”
“Path To The Abyss” is a very short, melodic intro, which as an intro is usually supposed to, perfectly builds up to “As Humanity Weeps”. Apparent to me from the start here is the talented playing of drummer Ville Miinala. The song is a perfect opener, proves of power and shows us perfectly what the band has in line for us. Refreshing melodic death metal, with unexpected melodies, but a strong-ass attitude.
“Dead Sun” slows down the fast-paced energy quite a bit, but with it’s groovy, riffs and compelling melodic parts, where there’s a clear presence of a smooth melody by twin guitars. “Defeat” sounds very refreshing for melodic death metal, especially the intro of the song, it has quite aggressive tone to it and the song drives forward, the rhythm changes are quite an interesting addition. There’s something in this song that I can’t put quite my finger on, it’s not that it’s catchy or anything, but it has some ominous vibe to it, that sounds so intriguing that for me this was an instant “I need to repeat this one again”-moment. “Into The Pitch Black”, the title track, sounds like a very classic melodic death metal track. With its mid-tempo, it’s maybe not the fastest song in the album, but it’s clear why they chose this one to be the title track. It has a very doom metal vibe to it at times, but when the heavy riffs kick in, it’s when the magic starts happening. “Alas” opens up with twin guitar harmonies and it instantly makes me think that the band really incorporates these melodic elements very well into their music. Sometimes the problem with melodic death metal bands is that the melodic parts can sound either generic, cheesy or uninspired. But with Mors Subita, it’s anything but those. I can’t say much about “I, God”, with its blast beats and crazy attitude, I can only say that the song is totally insane. During a show, this is probably where the crowd goes completely insane, where mosh pits form and people might not get to see the light of day. The bridge in “I, God” also shows of great musicianship. I think out of all tracks, this might be one of my favorites. It stands out. The guitar solo in this song is very surprising, tames down the energy, has that outstanding bridge as I mentioned before and after that it picks up the tempo again. All I can say is “Yes!”. “Vultures” again has great riffs, nice harmonies. “Shadows”, the first single, really was a good pick for that. The song maybe attracts a bigger crowd to it, but it definitely shows the capabilities of these guys. The melodies in this song sound really epic and everything sounds big, yet “Shadows” is not afraid of heavy riffs. Longest of the album is “Void”, which is also – unfortunately – the last song on the album. Again, I have no idea how many beats per second drummer is capable of doing, but to me his kicking abilities could be compared to the a rattle snake on cocaine. The song is very great to end the album with, and maybe it is the longest song on the album with its 7 minutes, but again. Not nearly long enough.
I can kind of conclude with the way I started to write this review. The Finnish metal scene is very vibrant nowadays. There’s a lot of bands out there that need to get more exposure and recognition. Mors Subita is one of these. This album, from the first second until the last one, sounded inspiring, refreshing and showed of strong talented musicians. The band has set the bar very high for the music scene here and this may just be one of the better melodic death metal releases out there. I’m sure Mors Subita will have a great career ahead of them, let’s see where the road will take them, but I’m definitely following them now!
Tracklist
1. Path to the Abyss
2. As Humanity Weeps
3. Dead Sun
4. Defeat
5. Into the Pitch Black
6. Alas
7, I, God
8. Vultures
9. Fear is Just the Beginning
10. Shadows
11. The Void
Lineup
Eemeli Bodde – Vocals
Mika Lammassaari – Lead Guitar, Vocals
Mika Junttila – Bass
Ville Miinala – Drums
Record Label
Inverse Records
