Immortal SoulsMordecai
Divine Wintertime / Through The Woods, Towards The Dawn
(1999)
Reviewed by Josh Spencer
What is it about Scandinavia, and Finland in particular, that allows for such a beautiful bonding of melodic distortion and wintry atmosphere? Whatever it is, Little Rose's third major release is another triumph in their quest to bring Christian metal up to speed with the rest of the genre. Two of the stars on the From Kaamos...To Midnight Sun compilation--Immortal Souls and Mordecai--are here given four tracks each. Immortal Souls' "Snow Soul" and Mordecai's "Dawn Eternal" from the compilation reappear.
Immortal Souls play accessible, melodic death that emphasizes flowing orchestrations over heavy riffs (typical Scandinavian style), with some borrowing from black metal and some welcome hooks and occasional rock structures. Think especially early Sentenced, but also In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and the like.
Mordecai also goes for a fluid orchestral sound, but on the atmospheric/melodic black metal end of things, with nods to grandmasters like Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, and even Emperor. Synths float beneath the speed-then-slow guitars, while the vocals drag the syllables out through gargly rasps and low growls, with some pleasant background harmonies.
For the most part, the lyrics avoid both the negativity of their satanic counterparts and the silliness of traditional Christian metal, but for every poetic turn of phrase there's an awkward translation into English that holds them back. The wonder of winter and the praise of Christ are the two themes that fill both bands' imagination. Immortal Souls' "Snow Soul" seems to glory in winter as a symbol of suffering that strengthens:
My heart beats in sync with the nature
I wait for the coldest winter
I am the snow soul...
Let it snow...upon my soul...I see my
troubles come and go...your given hope...
grace from above...my belief keeps strengthening...
While Mordecai's "The Last Winter" likens the end times to a final winter season:
Wintry paths take me towards
The One I love
And now my mind flies me to the peace
The salvation I have
The guidance through these mazes of winter
The everlasting time suddenly starts
To fade in your eyes
The coming of Jesus is near...
With most styles of rock there's really no need to have a "Christian" alternative, but with the blasphemy inherent in most black and death metal it's nice to have a few bands to redeem the genre for fans. Unfortunately, Immortal Souls and Mordecai are both paint-by-numbers bands at this point. Highly competent, but with no creativity. Time will tell if they have the ability to move beyond imitation into innovation.
3 tocks
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #77Reviewed by Doug Van PeltAahh, another split CD! This one comes from the very fine folks at Little Rose Productions, who have a great ear for excellent metal. Since these are the days that metal is almost completely untouched by the major labels, you have to look to indies like these guys for the good stuff. These two bands deliver. Immortal Souls are 90 mph, tight, and hallow screeching their way to the metal hall of…Art for the Ears 1999Reviewed by Marco PovervestThis split CD offers you some extreme music from Finland. Both bands have four songs on this CD with a total running time of 35 minutes. Immortal Souls brings melodic heavy metal with a deathgrunt which sometimes leans over to shrieking. But this ain't blackmetal. The basis is heavy metal but very melodic with leads all the time. A song like Morning Mist could have been a Schaliach tune. Only…Similar sounding releases
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