Album Review: Dead End Finland – Inter Vivos (Inverse Records)

The Finnish melodic metal band Dead End Finland has been hard at work with their fourth album for over three years. Now this long awaited musical monument entitled ‘Inter Vivos’ is finally landing and will be released globally on January 24th 2020 via Inverse Records.

Dead End Finland had this to say:

When we were working on this album, we decided not to set any deadlines, and to be ready to take a step back and change what we already created, if some part or track would need that. Which we also did. Many of the songs took a very different form in the final record, compared to how those sounded as first versions. It took a while, but we are very happy with the end result. We think that this is, no doubt, the best of our albums so far.

Symphonic melodies, a little bit of synth and plenty of gargantuan metal grabs the attention as the fist pumping groove of Deathbed opens Inter Vivos. Uplifting rhythm, the synth really stands out but a wickedly catchy chorus doesn’t do it any harm either.

The bang well and truly started, Closer to Extinction doubles down on the melodic metal catchiness. Down right infectious metal which is closely followed by a synth epic in the form of Lifelong Tragedy. This is Dead End Finland really stretching their melodic metal muscles and they are so very impressive.

Thanks to a clean and very clear sound, the extraneous elements that make up Tightrope really show. Whereas Dark Horizon is moodier but just as uplifting as anything else heard on the album. The symphonic elements give it a movie like score vibe, something continued on the short interval of Dead Calm. The soft plinky piano melody easing the mind.

War Forevermore brings with it a warning of impending epic battles while My Pain is the chaos that follows such devastation, played out with synthy excitement. As interesting and intense as always, Dead End Finland land their blows hard.

The penultimate track, Born Hollow isn’t quite the knockout it could be. A little lacking in the energetic department and the muted melody coming across a bit run of the mill. However, it does have as much grandness as always. It’s perfectly serviceable, there’s just more expectation considering the quality found elsewhere on the album. Quality such as the bombastic metal ballad of the finale In Memoriam. A glorious closing track on an album that is pretty damn glorious throughout.

Dead End Finland – Inter Vivos Full Track Listing:

1. Deathbed
2. Closer to Extinction
3. Lifelong Tragedy
4. Tightrope
5. Dark Horizon
6. Dead Calm
7. War Forevermore
8. My Pain
9. Born Hollow
10. In Memoriam




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Dead End Finland - Inter Vivos (Inverse Records)
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