KRISIUN Mortem Solis | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Century Media Records on July 29th, 2022

Quick Background

Krisiun is a Brazilian death metal band founded by the brothers Alex Camargo (bass, vocals), Moyses Kolesne (guitars) and Max Kolesne (drums) in 1990. The band is heavily influenced by the debut albums of Sodom, Kreator, Morbid Angel and Slayer. They released the debut full-length Black Force Domain in 1995, followed by Apocalyptic Revelation, in 1998. Krisiun signed with major label Century Media in 1999, releasing then nine studio albums. This makes Mortem Solis their 12th studio album and tenth with Century Media.

Mortem Solis

Mortem Solis which means 'death of the sun' in Latin, features 10 tracks and runs for 41 minutes. The songs are relatively short (hovering around the 4 min mark) and straightforward death metal. The one exception is the 1:30 instrumental "Dawn Sun Carnage" which  serves as an intro to "Temple of the Abattoir". This sequence is the most progressive moment on the album. The intro is clearly influenced by Brazilian rhythms. The song itself features a one-minute build up starting from clean guitars and slow tempo. Then we dive into their fast tempo and heavy patterns. But still the song features several instrumental passages and harmonies while delivering some cool grooves. An album highlight. 

In contrast most of the album is much more direct death metal. For example, the album opens with "Sworn Enemies" which brings a very modern metal vibe with it, but at its heart it's certainly still a death metal song. It is one of the shortest songs on the album with 3:45. "Serpent Messiah" was the album's first single and that was an excellent choice. It's a brutal song but featuring also good grooves and bass/guitar harmonies. "Swords into Flesh" released as the second single and video follows the same frame as the previous songs. One curiosity, maybe it's just me, but the intro riff sounds like Gamma Ray's "Land of the Free" on steroids. "War Blood Hammer" is another single and it's a voracious fast tempo song, it's even difficult to follow the lyrics video. It fits very well the lyrics about destruction. But Krisium was also able to insert some dynamics into Mortem Solis and avoid monotony, another example is "Necronomical" with a slower tempo and a lot of groove. 

The Picky Guy

If you are looking for a straightforward death metal album, there isn't much to complain here. The only problem is exactly that, there's nothing new or pushing the sound forward. So despite the small risks and variability I mentioned, it wasn't enough and Krisium mostly play very safely on their strengths. By the time we get to tracks 9 and 10 we are quite overloaded with similar songs and tempo.

Wrap Up Opinion 

Krisium has been delivering consistent and straightforward Death Metal for more than 30 years now. With their 12th studio album, they show no sings of slowing down. Quite the opposite, the album is pure high tempo death metal from start to finish with small hints of progressiveness, modern metal and groove. Is that enough to make it a memorable album? Not really, but it's high quality enough song writing, production and execution to be quite fun and to be considered a good 81/100 album. Enjoy the brutality! 

SCORE: 81/100

Genre: Death Metal

Released by Century Media Records on July 29th, 2022

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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The Best Metal Albums Of 2022 (so far...)

Here you go, in alphabetical order...

BATTLE BEAST Circus of Doom

I liked this album a lot, but I haven't seen many good reviews. That doesn't surprise me and it's one of the reasons I started this channel. Of course if you want extreme metal or prog metal adventures this is not the album. But we have to judge an album for what it is and tries to accomplish. In that sense Battle Beast stayed true to the formula of “100% heavy metal - 0% bullshit!” This is fun, catchy and contagious while delivering energy and quality song writing. It's a very good album and I keep listening to it and I am not ashamed. For me their best album yet. I also saw them live this summer and it was fantastic.

 

CULT OF LUNA The Long Road North

Cult of Luna have very productive the last few years. The emotions and dedication of the band in those albums in undeniable. The lack of fixed structures and templates gives the album an open and honest artistic vibe. The music takes you to different places from super heavy screams, to beautiful melodies, melancholic moments and ambient soundscapes. All these combined really appeals to me and I like this album a lot, another very good album.

DARK FUNERAL We Are The Apocalypse

I came to this album with no expectations and I am now surprised how much I enjoyed it. It's nothing new or innovative, but it's damn good straightforward black metal with that black and roll flavour at times. But most importantly, for a Black Metal album, it is also really dynamic with variability and not just tremolo picking guitars and blast beats. It's well written, performed and produced. In sum a very good black metal album, the best of 2022 so far.

 

DECAPITATED Cancer Culture

Decapitated delivered an angry album with blasting energy and heaviness from start to finish but with enough variability and groove to keep it interesting throughout.  You can expect to hear an outstanding production, enjoy a fantastic artwork, and benefit from a little something here and there that you would not expect from Decapitated before Cancer Culture. A very good album, and one that may grow further on me as I keep listening to it.

 

EVERGREY A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)

Less than a year after the previous record Evergrey delivered one of their strongest albums in years, it can even become my favourite. The album flows greatly and I could sense I'd be hooked on it after the first listen. And since them it only grew on me. An overwhelming journey through progressive heaviness and searing emotionality is repeatedly accented by sonic melancholy and gripping lyrics. There's a lot of heaviness in this album but masterly combined with melancholy and slower moments. Besides it's very catchy and musically featuring strong riff and solos. Very good album. A progressive metal lesson without overdoing it.

 

JOE SATRIANI The Elephants of Mars

Joe Satriani has nothing to prove, after almost 20 studio albums he has collected millions of fans and accolades. However, with  The Elephants of Mars he demonstrates that standing still is not option. A dynamic album combining classic elements from the early albums with experimentation and fusion music makes this new album a pleasure to listen to. It's another delight also to inspire guitar players around the world.

 

KREATOR Hate Über Alles

Kreator's 15th studio album is  remarkably consistent with the previous records. Aggressive German thrash metal, well written, produced and executed from start to finish. It doesn't bring a lot of new things to the table, other than the song "Midnight Sun" featuring a guest female singer, but it's damn good. A very good album where there are no weak songs. 

PORCUPINE TREE Closure Continuation

Many would never expect to see a new Porcupine Tree album ever again, but here we are. It was worth the wait. Not a heavy album, but another interesting step forward in the band's discography. Featuring an interesting guitar tone, odd time signatures, unconventional song structures and beautiful melodies. It's everything I'd hope to see from those guys. It's probably the album I listened the most this year so far. 

 

STEVE VAI Inviolate

Vai continues to use his solo work to expand and explore. He has been continually challenging notions of traditional guitar playing and composition even at the age of 60 and having accomplished so much in his successful career. With Inviolate he has done it again. Not only he re-imagined the instrument itself with the Hydra, but also this time around, Vai quite literally invented a new guitar-playing technique. And those are just two highlights of the so many things he did and explored in this album. Besides all that, the music is fun and entertaining to listen to. So I can only say it's a very good album and the guitar album of 2022 (so far, but likely to stay this way).

 

ZEAL AND ARDOR Zeal & Ardor

I'm a big fan of Zeal & Ardor first two albums and the trend continues now with the self titled third album. Zeal & Ardor continue to build on their unique combination of Black Metal and African American music. But this time around they doubled down on the heaviness of some tracks and post-metal elements in others. The album is dynamic, heavy, catchy and super interesting. I saw them live twice this year and those new songs blend perfectly with the older ones. When I rank the albums in December, I'm pretty sure this one will be very high.