Band:	Mortemia
Album:	Misere Mortem
Style:	Symphonic gothic metal
Release date:	February 2010

01. The One I Once Was
02. The Pain Infernal And The Fall Eternal
03. The Eye Of The Storm
04. The Malice Of Life's Cruel Ways
05. The Wheel Of Fire
06. The Chains That Wield My Mind
07. The New Desire
08. The Vile Bringer Of Self Destructive Thoughts
09. The Candle At The Tunnel's End

Lately I was trying to find an excuse on Morten Veland creating an one-man project, Mortemia, since he's the mastermind of the successful gothic metal act Sirenia. The only excuses I could find were either his lust for ultimate expression in any aspect (even production/engineering/mixing) or being at the front of vocal expression, since Sirenia is fronted by female vocals and he just escalates the atmosphere with his grunting interpretation. Maybe a mixture of those two, ego (not necessarily in a bad manner) and more expressional views apart from the mainly composing role he has in Sirenia.

Apart from these reasons mentioned above, was it really necessary to endure in such an action? Misere Mortem could easily be an album composed for Sirenia or any band ending in -ia with Morten Veland in its ranks. It has symphonic passages and operatic vocal lines as well, it's definitely heavier and more bombastic, but still melodic! Morten could play a more important role in the interpreting part of the game (keeping Pilar "Ailyn" Giménez García as well on the female role), something like earlier Tristania for example. Yet he monopolizes the interest and in my humble opinion it requires a lot of inspiration to stand out alone and shout “here I am, all alone and I can do it just fine” in this kind of music. There are many releases in the atmospheric/gothic/melodic death metal scene that have a lot to say and when the offer is big the demand for quality becomes even bigger. The good part is that you can do anything you want being an one-man band, but all by yourself, unless you're a multipersonal genius or with an exceptional and innovative idea in mind, you can't offer the diversity you probably want. And Morten hasn't progressed in sound.

Morten Veland is an important persona for the gothic metal scene, no need to refer to his achievements, but this move seemed kind of obscure, it's not that Misere Mortem is a bad album, it's a good one and has its moments of delight, but after some spins it tends to tire a bit, despite consisting only of 9 songs (40 minutes). And an album that doesn't sound that fresh and doesn't stick in mind in 2010, remains a memory, something like "ah, yeah, Morten Veland did release an album then". The artwork is great though.

Well, fans of Morten Veland will probably run to own Misere Mortem, after all it's an album with flowing harmony, one could say as well it's kind of early Tristania, lyrical still but heavier, with only male vocals (apart from the operatic ones), non-accompanied by an as well leading female voice. I was expecting more, without condemning this release though, it has good songs inside, it just tires a bit. The decision still lies to thee.

PS.
I enjoyed the Vovin approach the operatic vocals had on “The Pain Infernal And The Fall Eternal”.