Bringing fire to the stage – Mors Subita live at On The Rocks, Helsinki 17.11.

A Friday night in Helsinki couldn’t be better than attending a show with three of the most interesting and promising bands on the Finnish metal scene. The main band of the night was Mors Subita, promoting their newest album in a chaotic, heavy and great release party event at On The Rocks.

Before the Mors appeared on stage, it was up to the guys from Rovaniemi of I Am Your God to open the night with a lot of energy and sweat, performing high-quality melodic death metal, despite being without a second guitarist that night. Shereign further consolidated its name in the capital, as it was possible to see many shirts and hoodies on fans showing their appreciation for the band. In fact, it’s one of the most fun bands to witness live due to the charisma of the band members.

When the ambient music at the venue stopped at 21:30 and the intro of Into the Flame began, it was Mors Subita’s turn to begin their massacre and promote the new record “Origin of Fire”. Bringing chaos in sonic form, Fire, Walk With Me has a very technical work of drummer Ville Miinala, and a strong stage presence of vocalist Eemeli Bodde, who easily almost physically reached the ceiling with his stature.

From green to purple lights we see that the band also does a very interesting job with the backing vocals, as in Vile, but the two guitarists, the founder Mika Lammassaari and Juho Näppä also show a lot of musical chemistry during Strain‘s sensational intro.

Eemeli’s presence is even more mesmerizing due to his charisma, which with just a few words already commands a mosh-pit during the performance of Sick. Bassist Mika Junttila also gives a very solid performance, which could be heard in Blackout, for example.

The opening riff of As Humanity Weeps instantly captivates the audience and it is already possible to notice fans singing the verses. But when words and vocal melodies aren’t enough, Into Eternity shows how a guitar can sing and steal the thunder for itself. This song has an energy that is difficult to explain, but very easy to feel and get into the mood. A beautiful example of what Finnish melancholy can provide when it meets the heavy side of music.

With the members always showing a lot of gratitude for the good number of fans present, Mika once again does an incredible job with his guitar during an inspired solo. Regenerate has some backing tracks to match the studio version, but it works well and brings a nice cadence to the setlist.

Ville’s drums on Blood Eagle are insane and help to prolong the energy of the show, as it nears its end. The Killing Trend again has a genuine and charismatic interaction between band and audience, which is always a beautiful thing to see, as many present came straight from their work or nearby cities. These are gestures of gratitude that make a strong band and Mors Subita knows how to show their appreciation throughout the night.

The pulsating bass of June for Parasites gives life to the first song of the encore, followed by the light flashes during The Void, which requires an absurd technical concentration from the members and thus masterfully ends the quintet’s fantastic night.

It’s very interesting to follow bands that make a sound that doesn’t hide their influences, but still know how to sound modern and honest in their proposal. Mors Subita on stage knows very well how to show their live quality, strength and connection with the public, and will hopefully reach more people in the land of a thousand lakes and certainly beyond the borders, as Finnish death metal remains well represented through these five musicians.

You can listen to Mors Subita‘s newest album “Origin of Fire” here: