Mors Subita is back on the road.
Founded in 1999 in Finland by Mika Lammassaari (guitar, ex-Wolfheart, ex-Eternal Tears of Sorrow), the band that also features Mika Junttila (bass), Ville Miinala (drums, Vortech), Eemeli Bodde (vocals, Detset) and Juho Näppä (guitar) announces the release of Origin of Fire, its fifth album, on Out of Line Music in 2023.
Into the Flame kicks off with a visceral howl, complemented by a slow but impressive rhythm, followed by an extremely unifying passage that leads into Fire, Walk With Me and its devastating riffs between Death and Thrash. The furious vocal parts are the perfect complement to the frantic sound, which also features a few cutting leads, as on Blackout, which keeps an Old School approach made of energetic blast and icy harmonics. The main riff remains catchy, but gives way to Anssi Rönnqvist‘s backing vocals on Blood Eagle, before setting off again into the rawest rage at full speed, ensuring the band’s dynamic approach at all times, even when heaviness slows down the race, leading to Don’t Stop, where the jerky rhythm has no trouble launching crowd movements or motivated headbangs. The alliance of sharp guitars and majestic keyboards is particularly effective, especially on the final, before allowing Regenerate to develop more modern tones, notably on the background effects, which blend very well with the chopping riffs. The band manages to keep the atmosphere driving until Vile takes over, bringing his cutting touch and raw groove while the vocalist goes wild, just as on Downfall where piercing harmonics give the fury a dissonant edge. The chorus is as aggressive as heady, creating a contrast with the crazy lead parts, before keyboards once again add their modern touch on Tranquility, a slightly slower but very accessible composition, retaining the combo’s stirring basis and powerful backing vocals, which eventually disappear to make way for the heaviness of Walk Alone, whose leads are nonetheless imbued with a kind of melancholy. The final double kick roll finishes us off before the gentleness appears on The Killing Trend, the last composition, which offers us this brief moment of respite before exploding one last time thanks to its lively rhythm, packed with piercing leads.
Unsurprisingly, Mors Subita‘s new album is extremely effective on all eleven tracks. Origin of Fire can count on its motivated musicians and explosive riffs to carry out its mission: to make us bang our heads.
90/100