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September 3, 2010 |
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01. Pure
02. The Harmony Remains
03. Parasites Of Paradise
04. Two Steps Away
05. Altered State Of Consciousness
06. Spirit-Conception
07. The Unborn
08. Fragile Flesh
09. Pressure
10. The Glass Womb
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Finland's MORS PRINCIPIUM EST quickly gained the attention of the International Media when they released their excellent debut album, "Inhumanity", in 2003. At the time, everybody seemed to agreed that the band's unique style could easily bring them to the same level of grandeur as other Scandinavian giants such as IN FLAMES, DARK TRANQUILLITY, SOILWORK and CHILDREN OF BODOM. MORS PRINCIPIUM EST's latest album, "The Unborn", doesn't only keep up with the material previously released on their debut, but even goes one step beyond in quality while still displaying the same mélange of uncompromising brutality and enchanting melodies.
What really strikes me on the opening track, "Pure", is the quality of the production, and one can also appreciate the addition of a few female vocals here and there. But make no mistake! MORS PRINCIPIUM EST are not about to become a Gothic band, I'm pretty sure of that. As a matter of fact their hyper-blasting furious brand of super melodic Thrash/Death/Black Metal, which had everybody blown away on their debut album, has grown stronger than ever on "The Unborn" - with a kick-ass, in your face sound on the top of everything. It's also obvious that the vocals performed by Ville Viljanen have become much more aggressive than before. "The Harmony Remains" definitely confirms this impression without any efforts whatsoever, in a super fast and heavy vibe more in the tradition of DARK TRANQUILLITY or IN FLAMES at their very best - a real delight for the fans of the genre. As "Parasites Of Paradise" kicks in, the atmosphere, for a change, evolves to an early SOILWORK-type ambiance.
As the mid-tempo "Two Steps Away" gets started, I come to realize where MPE are getting extremely successful at creating their own style, without really sounding like anyone else any longer, therefore reaching the level of the super heavyweights of Scandinavian Metal mentioned earlier. Next, "Altered State Of Consciousness" strikes with full force with killer Bay Area kind of riffs in the style of EXODUS, MEGADETH or early METALLICA, which are going to make fans of Old School Thrash Metal very happy! After the quiet keyboards break on "Spirit-Conception", the title track, "The Unborn", proves that the band’s musicianship is not short, once again, of making a huge impression on the listener, without ever losing focus from the omnipresent melodies, which reaches its peak. And "Fragile Flesh" easily matches the spirit and energy displayed on the previous tracks.
"Pressure" slows the pace down slightly but also reveals to be by far the heaviest track on this album while the closing track, "The Glass Womb", is a full-on instrumental with a much slower vibe.
It is important to mention that the early edition of "The Unborn" comes as a digi-pack with two bonus tracks, including a cover of MEGADETH's "Blood Of Heroes" and the band's highly-energized composition, "No More". With "The Unborn", MORS PRINCIPIUM EST are bringing it to the next level and raising the bar extremely high for other acts in the same genre and Metal in general. "The Unborn" is definitely already one my top 3 favorites albums of 2005.
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