MORS PRINCIPIUM EST
Darkness Invisible
Perception
Veteran Finnish melo-death mob MORS PRINCIPIUM EST(MPE) seems to be adopted an "everything old is new again" philosophy. Since guitarist and primary songwriter Andy Gillion was dismissed in 2021 following a decade of service, original guitarists Jori Haukio and Jarkko Kokkoboth returned to the band, as did two-time session drummer Marko Tommila, joining mainstay frontman Ville Viljanen and bassist Teemu Heinola.
The regrouped, umm, group then chose the uninspired yet understandable route for a first release together, re-recording tracks from MPE's first three albums - which everyone save Tommila had played on - for the 2023 compilation Liberate The Unborn Humanity. While it gave the lineup an opportunity to gel once again, the album itself seemed little more than a practice recording, especially when compared to 2020's rather fantastic Seven, Gillion's grandiose swansong with MPE.
But it does seem to have served its purpose, filling the space by providing a low-risk "new" product and giving MPE time to redevelop its creative juices. The resulting ninth album Darkness Invisible, is every bit as massive and triumphant as Seven, but with a fearsome, darker, old schoolish edge yet a renewed vigor in the performances that makes for less pomp, more heaviosity and a genuinely powerful end result.
The dazzling interplay and urgent, cascading riffage of Kokko and Haukio - who shouldered the songwriting burden here - and Tommila's determined, athletic drumming shine from the get-go, with the epic ferocity of album opener "Of Death" and the technical dexterity and velocity of "Venator", which recalls CHILDREN OF BODOM at its feistiest. Topped by Viljanen's wolverine roar, they make an instant, indelible statement that this MPE lineup means business and wasn't merely reconstructed with previously used components for the sake of convenience.
"Monuments" finds the quintet taking a more anthemic, controlled approach with its soaring choruses and twin-guitar melodies echoing IN FLAMES, while the operatic segue "Tenebrae Latebra" shows the symphonic flourishes were not abandoned with Gillion's exit. From here, the ingredients of the first four tracks are largely mixed and matched over the album's remaining six tunes - with deluxe editions offering some unexpected black metal cheekiness in a savage cover of the dance-pop ditty "Makso Mitä Makso" originally recorded by Isac Elliot, who seems to be something of a Finnish Vanilla Ice. MPE's brutal send up is downright terrifying.
"Summoning The Dark" is lush and complex while at the same time super-fast and sinister, riding Tommila's blast beat fusillades and Viljanen unleashing lines like "Your god shall rot in the blinding light / No mercy shown, no prayers heard" with authority and purpose. "Beyond the Horizon" intersperses delicate strings with galloping tempos and a dizzying tangle of riffs all punctuated by rousing choruses. The anthemic, almost inviting chug of "The Rivers Of Avernus" is contrasted by Viljanen's ominous snarl.
The introductory "An Aria of the Damned" and the climatic "All Life Is Evil" close Darkness Invisible with another splash of symphonic majesty mashed into an imposing death metal tumult. Here, angelic female vocals trade off with Viljanen's gutturals for verses like "The iron branch of sorrow / The tree of pain / Pierced in to my skin / Grows too tall / Ripped flesh, crept into the marrow / Reaches the sky/ Absorbs my soul within" - providing as Jekyll & Hyde-esque a contrast as you could ever ask for, and a pretty fantastic finish, with or without the bonus track.
Dismissing Gillion after arguably MPE's career-crowning achievement in Seven could well have been career suicide, given his songwriting abilities and creative direction. But bringing back a slew of old hands and giving them some time to come together as a team while Haukio rediscovered his songwriting chops after 15 years away from the band now seems like a stroke of genius - or just plain dumb luck. Either way, it worked in the end. And that's all that really counts for now.
4.0 Out Of 5.0
