“Ave! Great to have the album finally for you to listen to,” Lord Mimorium pontificates from his ice cave in the woods of remote Finland. “From the beginning, our intention was to honor our new album with Scandinavian black metal of the ’90s. For me personally, this period is the most important in black metal history. Dissection, Mörk Gryning, Marduk, and Setherial, for example, have been role models ever since. So, our new album Blood of Qayin offers fast and melodic black metal as inspired by the mid-’90s. The sounds of the album also follow the spirit of that time. We would also like to thank Mr. Trollhorn (the man behind Moonsorrow and Finntroll) and Troll House Audio for mixing and mastering the album. Great job! Now it’s your turn to listen to our album and remember to keep the black flame burning! Salve Qayin Mortifer – Left Handed Death!”
Now, if that’ isn’t a loaded paragraph of many dimensions, Decibel doesn’t know what is. Finnish black metal combo Mimorium have come a long way since 2018’s Incipit Chaos effort. That is to say, the melodies are darker, the riffs more aggressive, the drums more thunderous, and the overall aesthetic more realized on new album, Blood of Qayin. The Finns truly are embodying the spirit of the mid-’90s, when bands like Thy Primordial, Blot Mine, Niden Div. 187, Vinterland, and Cardinal Sin were bubbling darkly under the trident of Dissection, Sacramentum, and Dawn. From blistering opening track “I Am What We Are” to the closing epic “Hunter,” Mimorium have crafted a sonically acquisitive album that doesn’t hold back on its barbarous intent or willingness to weave into that a superb melodic sensibility.
Bow down to Necrolord cover paintings (in blue), framed band photos, and the resurgence of a long lost black metal artform. Vale malorum!
