Mors Principium Est

Finnish melodic death metallers Mors Principium Est (which translates from Latin as “death is the beginning”) emerged in 2003 with a punishing amalgamation of Swedish death and Norwegian black metal. Citing the sonic onslaught of contemporaries like At the Gates, Children of Bodom, and Dark Tranquillity as inspirations, the band issued a trio of well-received efforts before going on a short hiatus after the release of 2007′s Liberation = Termination. They reconvened with a re-tooled lineup in the 2010s and have continued to hone their icy blend of melody and might on subsequent outings like Embers of a Dying World (2017) and Seven (2020). Hailing from the town of Pori and formed in 1999, Mors Principium Est’s lineup was typically unstable early on, but eventually settled down to feature singer Ville Viljanen, guitarists Jori Haukio and Jarkko Kokko, keyboard player Toni Nummelin, bassist Teemu Heinola, and drummer Mikko Sipola for the recording of various demos. Quickly developing their sound, the group found a home with French death metal label Listenable Records and issued their accomplished debut, Inhumanity, in 2003. They released two more LPs on the label, 2005′s equally revered The Unborn and 2007′s Liberation = Termination, before absorbing the impact of a flurry of lineup changes that nearly caused them to disband. After recalibrating their membership, they inked a deal with German metal powerhouse AFM Records, on which they would release their acclaimed fourth and fifth studio long-players, ...And Death Said Live (2012) and Dawn of the 5th Era (2014). In 2017 they released Embers of a Dying World, again via AFM, with the hard-hitting Seven arriving in 2020. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia