### Among The Mortals: Of ignorance and dismissal

#### 02/05/11 || revenant

I’m going to break the rules today. Not a rule passed down by the Lord (K that is), but one I put upon myself. The rule is this: when reviewing label or band sent material, I have dictated to myself that I must give the album at minimum 3 full listens before judging it. OK, so I may have, in past, broken my own rule once or twice, but those albums were utter shit. Today, however, I break my rule once again but not, as previously, because this album is a piece of shit, but because I can’t fucking stand the production.

But more on that later. Let me intro the fucking band first. Among the Mortals is the project of two Finnish dudes who play melodic cum progressive metal. This is a self funded release that has apparently been restricted to 200 physical copies, and is freely downloadable from their MySpace page. The music, at times, focuses on simple yet well structured melodic leads backed by traditional death metal growls and annoyingly out of place and intrusive keyboards. For the most part, this duo have crafted their music well but, when it comes to the keyboards, they get a major fail from me as they don’t fit with the music and only serve to irritate. Listening closely to “Distant Mist” I even wonder if the right piano track was attached to this song. The music is at its strongest in the instrumental, more progressive sections whether it is the acoustic or the melodic guitars that lead it. “Pygmalion”, the 8 minute monster towards the end of the album is testament to this.

Keyboards aside, it’s the production and mixing that really lets the band down. I understand, particularly with these self funded projects, it can be hard to raise enough capital to fund professional production which, in the instance of this album, would have made a major difference. A much cleaner production and mixing would have meant this album would have received more spins and made a much stronger impression on me. As it is, the guitars are wiry through the melodic sections and lack any punch when heavy groove is needed. Worse still, when two different melodic leads play at once it gets nerve grinding. Add those out of place keyboards and it’s a nerve grinding chaotic mess. And while I’m on the subject of sound, what the fuck is that sound effect at the start of “A Dream Like None”? Rain? It sounds like static, and the only reason I can guess its rain is from the accompanying thunder. Better work on the sampling in future too.

Among the Mortals demonstrate in their debut release that they are certainly on the right track to forging out some great music. However, more work needs to go into better intertwining the keyboards into the music. I’d suggest employing a full time keyboardist or ditch these altogether as the music is strong enough to survive without it. Better production and mixing is also a must. Until then…

- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: None
- Website: Among The Mortals MySpace
- Band
- T. Luosujärvi: vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards
- V. Hanhisuanto: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Beyond Divinity
- 02. Weep, You Lifeless
- 03. Distant Mist
- 04. A Dream Like None
- 05. Passion Amid Ruins
- 06. Hannah
- 07. Penitence
- 08. The Latter Day Rebels
- 09. Ad Noctum
- 10. Pygmalion
- 11. The Darkened Path