Release Date: September 26, 2025
Label: Perception (imprint of Reigning Phoenix Music)
Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Line Up:

Ville Viljanen – Vocals
Jori Haukio – Guitars, Programming
Jarkko Kokko – Guitars
Teemu Heinola – Bass
Marko Tommila – Drums

Tracklist:

Of Death
Venator
Monuments
Tenebrae Latebra
Summoning The Dark
Beyond The Horizon
The Rivers Of Avernus
In Sleep There Is Peace
An Aria Of The Damned
All Life Is Evil
Makso Mitä Makso (Isac Elliot cover) – Bonus Track (digipak/digital only)

Mors Principium Est is, above all else, a dependable band. You pick up their latest release, run your fingers across the album artwork, fire up your stereo, hit play, and receive exactly what you anticipated. Solid melodic death metal, expertly performed, impressively presented, and passionately delivered. All the genre hallmarks are present—the riffs bite with danger, the vocals channel organic aggression—balance reigns, life goes on. When the final track fades out, you eject the disc, admire its reflective surface with satisfaction, slide it back into its case, place it on your shelf and… promptly forget about it for roughly twelve months. Because despite the quality, consistency, and technical prowess, Mors Principium Est has always lacked two crucial creative elements: innovation and authenticity.

“Darkness Invisible” follows this pattern. Finding fault with this record proves extremely difficult since it contains no glaring weaknesses, yet it’s equally devoid of standout moments. The album opens with “Of Death” and immediately everything feels flawlessly familiar: that signature equilibrium between brutality and melody, crystalline production clarity, and guitars slicing through space with surgical precision. This isn’t a band searching for identity (they seemingly never were)—this is a band that understands exactly who they are and precisely which frequency range should carry each emotion. The professionalism here borders on intimidating: not a single misstep, not one failed concept, everything tight and synchronized like a well-oiled war machine.

However, as mentioned earlier, within this polished precision lies “Darkness Invisible’s” central weakness. Mors Principium Est performs with such confidence that surprises become impossible. After several tracks—whether “Monuments,” “Tenebrae Latebra,” or “Beyond The Horizon”—a sense of déjà vu emerges: everything’s excellent, yet painfully familiar. Songs flow consecutively, merging into a dense, uniform current of energy where melodies don’t embed themselves in memory so much as simply pass by, like scenery through a bullet train window. Not a weak moment exists, but neither does a peak—just a sturdy, perfectly constructed horizon.

Say what you will about bands like In Flames, but damn it, they searched for themselves, evolved, experimented, frustrated fans, delighted audiences, sparked intrigue, generated genuine buzz. Greatness rarely equals stability, and Mors Principium Est provides obvious confirmation of this truth.

The production deserves special mention: the sound is polished to perfection, instrumental balance is flawless, and Ville Viljanen’s vocals maintain the same standard—sharp yet distinct, predatory yet not overloaded. Even the bonus track, a cover of “Makso Mitä Makso,” displays that same Finnish meticulousness. The problem is that all this perfection becomes exhausting. There’s no risk, no deviation, no whisper of spontaneity. Everything’s done correctly—so correctly that you crave just one glitch, one drop of chaos, to feel the vitality beneath this burnished surface.

“Darkness Invisible” is an album that commands respect but doesn’t inspire excitement—like the band’s entire catalog. Mors Principium Est sounds powerful, energetic, and professional, but they resemble craftsmen more than pioneers. They maintain standards but never attempt to leap higher… or at least in a different direction.

Written by: Shadow Editor