Mörti Viventi - The Day the Dead Returned

Mörti Viventi

The Day the Dead Returned

by JF "Thrashing Assault" Briard at 24 February 2015, 8:33 AM

Thrash Metal has seen a major comeback lately, but some undiscovered great bands / artists remain to be brought to light. Adrian "Aidy" J. Heathershaw's MÖRTI VIVENTI is an indisputable gem that deserves recognition from all fans of the genre. He is alone in the band; he composed, performed and recorded everything by himself; in fact, he's a very talented and polyvalent musical genius!

Hell on Earth has that excellent thrashy vibe as soon as it starts. It also contains a very catchy chorus and a psychotic guitar solo that makes us recall the glory of 80's/90's thrash."The Day the Death Returned" starts with a spoken monologue and a mid tempo riff thorough most of the song, but it sometimes explodes with a rapid and melodic lead guitarwork. Adrian has that rough and raspy Thrash voice and the chorus again is very catchy. The solos are more melodic than the opener but the raging melancholy is still present. "Whorehouse of the Undead's" beginning is composed of hectic riffs and unforgiving relentlessness, but it also contains slower parts and off putting stops in tempo, having two distinct feels.

"Maniac – Face the Shape" is the slower song of the album: I sometimes like chuggy and chunky songs, but this one is very repetitive and not very memorable; the finale tries to redeem it by accelerating the tempo and doing some solos, but as a whole, it's not very cohesive and memorable…  Fortunately, Spawn of Another Kind's quality is more in line with the other songs, having one of the more interesting and well done chorus… the word again is definitively "catchy". I particularly like that sustained note at the end of the solo. "The Arrival of the Anti-God" is an instrumental and the longest song by far, clocking at almost 13:30 minutes. It's also the most progressive piece, having a lot of interesting ideas, being melodic and twisted at the same time. It also contains several different tempos changes; being slow at the beginning, mid/fast tempo in the middle…. and somewhat returning slower at the end, with a surprise clean guitar finale that is amazingly creepy, really. "Thrash or Die" is the last song and an appropriate ending to this album (being a “Thrash Anthem”) with a great Guest Solo by Ross Duncan.

This is an almost perfect album and a definitive contender for best Thrash releases of 2014 I believe. It's a real shame it slipped under the radar of most people, but that's why I'm here; to give their due respect to underrated artists!