Spiritus Mortis The Great Live CD Review
Legendary, Finnish Doomsters, Spiritus Mortis will soon release a Live album entitled “The Great Live”. All the performances on this album were captured while the band was touring their previous album “The Great Seal”. I’ve never been the biggest fan of the band as they’ve always reminded me of Candlemass a bit more than I’d like. I’m not the biggest fan of Candlemass, surprisingly. Epic Doom Metal does tend to bore me oftentimes. However, after listening to this new live album several times, I think I may have misjudged Spiritus Mortis.
On these live performances, the band really stands out, it’s like going to a package show and checking out the opening bands and walking away with a newfound appreciation that you didn’t know you had. That’s exactly what I’m feeling – I find myself wanting to dig into their back catalog and listen intently to the earlier stuff. It’s moody, heavy and the lyrics are interesting. I’m also a bit smitten by the vocals and the melody lines in every track, there’s not a weak moment to be found, every song is great! From what I can tell, a lot of the tracks played here are from the band’s last few albums, so there’s nothing from the earlier days which is disappointing – I always enjoy it when bands play some of their older classics live. I can tell you this though, if Spiritus Mortis comes to your town, do yourself a favor and check them out, they’re a fantastic live band. I’ll go one further, if you see this album or any of their other stuff in the wild, grab it up, you’ll definitely enjoy it.
Stand out tracks – “Baron Samedi”, “Holiday in the Cemetery”, “Death’s Charioteer”, “Man of Steel”.