Metal Thrashing Mad – Mors Principium Est vs. Paradox vs. All For Metal

Metal Thrashing Mad – Mors Principium Est vs. Paradox vs. All For Metal

MORS PRINCIPIUM EST
… And Death Said Live
AFM Records

Aiiieee!! Some Finnish melodic death metal from Death Is The Beginning, who probably count as veterans nowadays, even though I still think of them as being new kids on the block. Something that has more to do with my age than the 13 year history of the band.

As is often the case, they’ve been through a warehouse full of musicians, but luckily Finland is another one of those countries where you just need to throw a plectrum out of the window in order to hit a melodic death metal musician looking for work. This is the fourth full length release from Mors Principium Est, and although I’d heard a few tracks by them, this was my long playing debut. And they’re pretty good. For sure, they’re a wee bit At The Gates and a wee bot Dark Tranquility, but what melodic death metal band isn’t these days. And with the genre being in a bit of a lull these days – and don’t bother arguing fans of Swallow The Sun and Kalmah – it’s true and you know it – they should do alright with this latest release.

They’ve got the technical proficiency required, there’s plenty of hard hitting bass work and blast beats, and even the keyboards are fully integrated rather than being an annoying add-on. Tuneage lilke ‘Birth Of The Starchild’ and ‘Dead Winds Of Hope’ are top notch, and there are more than enough moments like those to keep the melodic death heads happy. Or miserable, which is more likely.

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PARADOX
Tales Of The Weird
AFM Records

And now we’re off to Germany for some power metal with a dose of thrash. Which is nice. If you’re a fan of the riff, then you will enjoy this as they combine melody and aggression to good effect. I’ll fess up and admit that I’m not a huge fan of the vocals, but everything else seems to hold together nicely.

Of course, it helps that the best track on the album is a tribute to me. It’s the sort of flattery that will get you anywhere, and ‘Zeitgeist’ coalesces the sounds of Firewind and Iced Earth into a splendid new whole. And makes me smile and think of Hawkwind. Whisch is always a good thing (and for those not up to speed, your clues are paradox / spirit of the age). Sometimes, I’m too sad for my own good. Elsewhere, the title track is a splendid opener, replete with the children of the night, and on ‘Brutalized’ you get exactly what it says on the tin, even with an American spelling.

My other favourites are the marvellously titled ‘Intestinal Incubation’ and the peculiar sounds of ‘Slashdead’. It’s a very good album, if not a great one, but will hold a lot of appeal for folks who like Euro power metal.

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Various
All For Metal Volume 3
AFM Records

I like this sort of thing. The sampler album was a staple of my youth, and in the modern world they’ve transmogrified into this sort of thing. Which is a 15 track compilation CD and a 36 track DVD! Yes, a thrity six track DVD.

I don’t get out much, so it’s nice to have the chance to bung on a DVD, settle back and enjoy the sights and sounds of bands I’ll never get to see in real life. Granted, no-one really needs lingering close ups of Udo Dirkschneider, but having watched the video to ‘The Things We Believe In’ by Orden Ogan more times than can be good for me, I have found my new best friends. And I even ponied up for their album, which is surely what this sort of thing is all about. I’ve even added Iron Mask, Wolfpakk and Triosphere onto my list, so I think they’ve got their moneys worth out of me.

The CD is less essential, but does feature; Bloodbound, Mob Rules, Iron Savior – Hall Of The Heroes, Dragonland, Voodoo Circle, Magica, Almah, Kryptos, Paradox, Mors Principium Est, Words Of Farewell, Thormesis, Merrimack, Byfrost and Vore. But it’s the DVD you want, with the Orden Ogan, U.D.O, Kissin’ Dynamite, Masterplan, Heavenly, Shakra, The Last Vegas, Morton, Triosphere, Brainstorm, Iron Mask, Crystal Viper, At Vance, Wolfpakk, Sinner, Oz, Elvenking, Nightmare, Epysode, Stahlmann, A Life Divided, Eisbrecher, The Murder Of My Sweet, Lake Of Tears, The New Black, Lyriel, All Hail The Yeti, Black Messiah, Ektomorf, Solution .45, Fear Factory, Ministry, Suidakra, Korzus, Onslaught and Tankard.

It also comes with a download card doohickey which will get you free music should you enter the code on the AFM website. So there.

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