Melodic death metal's story is tragic. The original intention of this once-promising blueprint has been skewed so far in the opposite direction of what it was capable of that its present worth might amount to stocking shelves during a graveyard shift at Walmart if the stars align properly. My general interest in the sound has waned significantly over the years, although I've been no stranger to some of melodic death metal's finer moments-Vehemence's "God was Created" and The Crown's "Eternal Death" come to mind. I avoided Mors Principium Est not out of sheer dislike of their style, but for the nagging sensation that the Finnish band was capable of little else than herd-level quality, and would eventually be culled in favor of something reasonably better than the bovine affairs that make up most of the melodic death metal population."Dawn of the 5th Era" turned out to be better than what I had expected. Mors Principium Est has the model example of melodic death metal nailed down and fortified firmly, typically staying true to an authentic view of the style. Melodic death metal's source of individuality comes from taking death metal and melodic sequences and making them bang in a closet; this is the guitar work of "Dawn of the 5th Era" in a nutshell. Riffs and leads rich in harmonic unity dabbled over death metal's instrumental fundamentals make up Mors Principium Est's plan of attack-a nice view of the style given they aren't clogging it up with unneeded nonsense. The guitar solos, in particular, are tremendously poignant and effective among riffs that are hostile, vibrant, and even astonishing under the right circumstances.
To call "Dawn of the 5th Era" consistently capable of surpassing expectations would be giving it too much credit, however. Mors Principium Est's efforts define the sacred art of the frequency distribution: quality appears fitfully on the ends of spectrums both pleasing and abhorrent with most of these songs falling somewhere in the middle. Something like the melodic firestorm of "God Has Fallen" is excellent, but then they launch into "Leader of the Titans," which is based on clumsy melodies and second-rate melodic death metal redundancies. "We are the Sleep" and "The Forsaken" just stink; they try way too hard to be blockbuster songs rivaling the accessibility of Dark Tranquillity and others, minus any sense of decency. On the other hand, "Innocence Lost" and "I Am War" have their poop in a group, showing adequate riffs and ideas that hold their ground.
Still, there is a lot here that isn't fulfilling, unfortunately. I can't remember a thing about "The Journey" or "Wrath of Indra," although neither is inherently detestable. They are stuck in the middle, and this is where most of "Dawn of the 5th Era" dwells. Other parts of the album are just other parts of the album: the harsh vocals are harsh vocals, the bass is a bass, the precise drumming found in most death metal is precise drumming found in most death metal. Kids, the only show to see here is the arsenal of melodic riffs and rich harmonies ejaculating from the guitars. Mors Principium Est is inconsistent, but they at least partially nullify the erratic shifts in quality by having an understanding of how melodic death metal should sound. Despite driving me up the wall at times, I'd say this squeaks by with a recommendation.