Mors Principium Est: Seven

With the departure of bassist Teemu Heinola, the transformation of Finnish Melodeath outfit More Principium Est from a fully fledged band into a recording duo with a larger touring line-up was complete. The remaining twosome being, of course, guitarist, programmer and songwriter Andy Gillion and singer Ville Viljanen, with drums on this album being handled by Marko Tommila. For most bands this turn of events would cause a derailing and yet, in truth, the metamorphoses has been a slow steady one as MPE have continually shed musicians as they’ve trimmed down from a sextet to the remaining two. Hence, what should have been a disaster, finds Seven being a proud proclamation of riffs and symphonic keyboards, all bolstered into place with pummelling drums and the confident barks from Viljanen.

Undoubtedly one of the genre leaders in a sound that’s akin to the Gothenburg scene scythers such as Children of Bodom, this outfit also bring an aspect of Dark Tranquility and Kallah into play while retaining just enough of their own flavour across the gallop and swoop of “Master Of The Dead� to strongly stand out from the crowd. That doesn’t, in all honesty, mean that the likes of “My Home My Grave�, which hammer-smashes you right between the eyes, sounds even vaguely original, but with clever surges of synths underpinning everything and attention grabbing little guitar flurries and forays, it is a memorable statement. Add in in the guitar-darting “Rebirth� and remarkably melodic fret outbursts of “Lost In A Starless Aeon� and the vital mix of energy and precision is balanced out nigh on perfectly.

Special mention really must go to both of the men tasked with fleshing this album out into the territory of sounding like a ‘band’, Viljanen able to bring a real vocal variety to the likes of “A Day For Redemption� and “At The Shores Of The Silver Sands�, while Gillion powers home every piece of guitar fury and synth sweep with real conviction, with even the bonus cut of Muse’s “Up Rising� delivered in truly believable style - actually credit to the pair for making the latter sound more like their song than any cover version has the right to.

Groundbreaking Seven is not, thoroughly entertaining it certainly is, as it confirms More Principium Est’s position at the head of the Melodeath pack.

Track Listing
1. A Day For Redemption
2. Lost In A Starless Aeon
3. In Frozen Fields
4. March To War
5. Rebirth
6. Reverence
7. Master Of The Dead
8. The Everlong Night
9. At The Shores Of Silver Sand
10. My Home, My Grave

Added: March 13th 2021
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Seven @ AFM Records
Hits: 837
Language: english

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