Krisiun – Mortem Solis
Release Date: 29th July 2022
Label: Century Media
Pre-Order
Genre: Death Metal
FFO: Immolation, Hate Eternal, Malevolent Creation, Nile.
Review By: Rick Farley
Brazil’s kings of death metal Armageddon Krisiun return for their 12th studio album Mortem Solis out on Century Media Records. Formed in 1990, three brothers Alex Camargo (vocals, bass) Moyses Kolesne (guitar) and Max Kolesne (drums) set forth a path of death metal legacy few bands can imagine let alone compete with. Thirty-Two years of straightforward, full throttled and aggressive death metal, always maturing but still keeping their sound consistent. Considered by many, including myself, to have never released a bad album, Krisiun looks to continue their skull pounding brutality. The stage is set for death metal to be true again.
Firstly, the production needs to be mentioned. One of the best sounding death metal albums, I’ve heard in a while. Mortem Solis was recorded at Family Mob Studio in Brazil, engineered by Hugo Silva and Otavio Rossato with Silva co-producing alongside the band. Then shipped off to Mark Lewis for mixing and mastering in Nashville, Tennessee. Fuelled by hate and disgust for the computerization of death metal, the band decided to record the old school way, and use the least amount of unnecessary modernity. No click tracks or computers, completely going for the stripped-down approach in true death metal spirit. Honestly, the end results speak for themselves, the record sounds fantastic. Full-bodied, rich with good clarity, and it sounds authentically pissed off.
Mortem Solis, on the surface, continues everything that makes this band so special and dependable. Neck wrecking, tightly wound intensity in the form of frantic incessant blasting and razor-sharp syncopated chugging with fierce linear tremolo picked riffs. Earth trembling bass and often intelligible throaty growling rasp that fits the music so well, ramp the intensity to dizzying heights. At this point in the bands career, they are far beyond a well-oiled machine. Top tier musicianship, adding just enough progression to their tried-and-true signature brand of frantic death metal to keep things sounding refined and energized. Krisiun rarely strays too far from their own set path, but mange to keep things fresh without compromising song writing. A maelstrom of complex riffs, dynamic hyper speed drumming, and shreddy sometimes dissonant solos, coalesce perfectly with venomous growling excellence. I’ve long thought Alex has some of the best growls in the business. The band sounds truly inspired, ferocious and pure. The injection of a little more catchiness mixed with their normal infernal savagery; this could very well be the bands best album since 2008’s Southern Storm.
As a whole, the album is top tier death metal, but it’s worth mentioning a few standout tracks to wet the palate a little. Necronomical starts with a heavy bass thump and groove-based beat ready to ignite the pit. Dissonant guitar chords and screechy whammy noises threaten of brutal headbanging things to come. The song explodes into a fierce but slightly off kilter militaristic chug. Rearing its discordant ugly head throughout, the song sounds maniacal and completely out for blood. The extremely menacing yet beautiful instrumental Dawn Sun Carnage at only one minute forty-two seconds is the perfect break from the mayhem. Ritualistic war drums and flamenco style acoustic guitars with distorted devilish guitar noises overtop create a hellish atmospheric soundscape. Extreme amounts of blasting on Sworn Enemies becomes a blistering reminder of just how ruthless this band can be. It’s a constant bludgeoning of the senses, delivered directly through your uncontrollable neck smashing and limb flailing.
It’s safe to say Mortem Solis upped the ante in every single way this time around. The pristine production, the memorable song writing, the lyrical themes, the artwork (Marcelo Vasco), the sheer aggressiveness and unapologetically violent spewing death that this band does so well. The brother’s mission as stated by the band themselves is to bring back real death metal, safe from the commercial and fake scene of poserism. And by damned that’s exactly what Krisiun is doing.
(4.5 / 5)
