Immortal SoulsMordecai
Divine Wintertime / Through The Woods, Towards The Dawn
(1999)
Reviewed by D_Lister
What happened to Immortal Souls? Same three guys, same band name, same country, but man what a sound change! Gone are the slow and sludgy (but really good for the genre) doom styled songs. They are replaced with strong, melodic death metal.
From the beginning of their first track, to the blazing ending of their last track this band leaves you beaten to a pulp. Delivering a distinctive brand of death metal, Immortal Souls shows what true musicianship is all about. Very distinctive and technical guitar playing coupled with non-standard song format really makes this first half of this split CD stand out.
Lyric wise this band is as for God now as they ever were, yet the songs really pull you in. The song Morning Mist will break your heart with the story of a terminally ill cancer patient who must rise everyday to face another battle filled with pain. The yearning to die is strong, but the faith in God is strongest above all.
In Christ Mass the band delivers a blazingly fast delivery of the Christmas story, complete with Herod murdering children to put a stop to the coming of the King.
Mordecai comes in next with atmospheric black metal. Production seems to drop a bit on this second half of the CD. The music is black metal all the way, and of the kind that can really compete with the secular european bands.
The vocals are pure black screech, and not strained in even the least bit, backed with haunting guitars and keyboards this music systematically takes you apart song by song.
The lyrics here are interesting to say the least. Two song (Infinity of Creation and Last Winter) talk about nature quite a bit, while Exhortation can be easily summed up as a black metal praise song, ROCK! Dawn Eternal brings with the creepy music some really creepy lyrics as the return of Christ is being portrayed.
Extreme metal fans, heed this call...find yourself a copy of this CD, you will not be sorry.
9/10
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…The Phantom Tollbooth 1999Reviewed by Josh SpencerWhat 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…Dead Zine 1999Reviewed by GrindboyWoah!!! Thank you, Little Rose Productions. Here they have given us a four song EP each from two fantastic Finnish bands, Immortal Souls and Mordecai. Immortal Souls comes first, and I don't even know how to make this review reflect the excitement I have about this band. I haven't been this stoked over a band in at least a year. Death metal, distinctly European, but without equal. Technical, but…Similar sounding releases
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