Mors Principium Est – Liberate The Unborn Inhumanity
Release Date: 8th April 2022
Label: AFM Records
Pre-Order
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
FFO: Omnium Gatherum, Dark Tranquillity, Children of Bodom.
Review By: Rick Farley
For anyone that’s unfamiliar, Mors Principium Est (Latin for “death is the beginning”) is a Finnish Melodic Death Metal formed in 1999. They’ve released seven acclaimed full lengths and had a numerous number of members live and in studio. One constant that’s remained since 2000, is vocalist Ville Viljanen. Prior to releasing their previous album Seven the band which consisted solely of only Ville and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Andy Gillion, the two members had an unfortunate falling out. Both members have gone the route of blaming the other, but in the end it’s Ville’s band and honestly, I’m glad for that. For Liberate The Unborn Inhumanity he enlisted original guitarists Jarkko Kokko and Jori Haukio, returning bassist Teemu Heinola and new drummer Marko Tommila to rerecord a compilation of songs picked from the first three albums. All being unbelievable examples of pure blissful progressive Melodic Death Metal mixing high speed riffing, big melodies, powerful growls and a touch of Finish melancholy.
Starting with the album Inhumanity, the newly rerecorded The Lust Called Knowledge begins with a simple keyboard melody followed by a heavy pulsing bassline that progresses into the crunchy guitars following suite. The guitars on the original sound a little heavier due to a slight key change, but the mix between instruments is much better now. This version somehow brings more energy without any tempo change. Everything is crisp, bright and executed with razor sharp precision. Ville sounds just as brutal as the original, he has an intelligible but harsh lower register growl with the ability to go into higher growls as well. Added guitar melodies during the build-up to the chorus bring a little extra life to the song. And of course, the Neo-Classical guitar solos here are God level trading off feverishly, ripping and swirling in a virtuosic frenzy.
Album number two, The Unborn is best representative in the title track The Unborn. A variation in the beginning orchestration features more traditional sounding violins as opposed to the original’s mechanized synth sound, which is a huge upgrade. It leads to the familiar fast, aggressive angular riffs, and ferocious downbeats. The Scandinavian melodies and hooks are high energy and infectious. Two Steps Away is another great song from that record. Its huge hooks and melancholy atmospheres are incredibly beautiful until that heavy as fuck crunchy guitar hits. A bulldozer of a riff that creates a strong contrast between melody and brutality. The re-record of this song is an absolute highlight from Liberate The Unborn Inhumanity. It makes the juxtaposition between parts even more impactful and ends up being heavier than the original recording.
Third album, Liberation = Termination, brings us my personal favourite Cleansing Rain. The military esque fast snare and heavily palm muted matching guitar sets the tempo to furious. The drums are stunning, sounding more raging and ferocious on this version. They go from downbeats to blasting effortlessly. Ville’s growling on the chorus melody over-top blasting drums sound brutal as hell. The original while being decent has now been elevated to new heights. It’s more aggressive, energetic and technical. Better than the original. Yeah, I said it!
Obviously, this is a new album of old songs skilfully re-crafted by mostly original members. So, to be fair, I can’t rate this in the same manner as I would a brand-new album. Meaning even though it’s fantastic, and I rated it extremely high, it won’t be in my top ten list simply because it’s not new material. However, it’s some of the finest melo-death to be written and to be repackaged with modern technology and a newfound vigour amongst old members makes it an incredible album. It was immediately evident that great care was put into these recordings, nothing drastic is added or changed, but just enough difference in the songs to make it more vibrant and fresh sounding. Liberate The Unborn Inhumanity has some of the best songs Mors Principium Est has to offer. It was rerecorded, mixed and mastered by a full band, that wanted no programmed drums, needless gimmicks and no experiments, just double riff power and full blast grandeur. Fucking outstanding!
(5 / 5)
