SPIRITUS MORTIS is a Finnish doom metal band. They sound like CANDLEMASS meets QUEENSRŸCHE meets TYPE O NEGATIVE. This album, "The Great Seal," is their first album with Kimmo Perämäki on vocals. I'm not sure why they didn't have any of their previous vocalists on this one, but I am not a Kimmo fan at all. His vocals are undeniably over the top, and I think they are way overdone. I enjoyed most of the music on "The Great Seal" despite its lack of development on any of this album's eight tracks.

In the second track on the album, "Death's Charioteer," Perämäki starts attempting to sound evil with a slow deep tone and suddenly begins singing in a higher pitch. The vocals are all over the place for no apparent reason other than for show. The changes in pitch are more off-putting than they are impressive. Also, the music is underdeveloped. They start with one riff and play it for close to the song's entirety.

"Martyrdom Operation" has a catchy bluesy guitar riff that quickly got stuck in my head. The vocals are still everywhere at once, and the chorus where Perämäki simply repeats the song's title gets old fast. There's also a solo that more than overstays its welcome. I get the impression that this song could have been a hit in the glam metal 80s.

Skip ahead a couple of tracks to "Visions Of Immortality," a song that is sung from the point of an immortal. This immortal brags about his conquests and timeless feats, then laments that he's never seen the end of war. That made me think that a peaceful immortal wouldn't have the desire to conquer anything. Nevertheless, the music is exceptionally catchy and fun. Clocking in at two minutes and forty-four seconds, it is the shortest track. This is the best track on the album because nothing goes on long enough for the song to get boring.

"Feast Of The Lord" is lyrically front-loaded. The song starts with a stale 90s riff. Shortly after that, the drums enter the mix. Then we are once again treated to Perämäki's overzealous singing. The vocal embellishments are in the wrong places and seemingly done solely for effect. The lyric writing leaves a lot to be desired with lines like, "burn my body till I'm dead." Shortly after that line is delivered, the vocals drop out entirely, giving way to an exceptionally long guitar solo before the song's ultimate end. That left me feeling like they ran out of lyrics before they ran out of song.

The final track, "Are You A Witch," is equally as annoying as the rest of the album. It seems to be about the Salem witch trials from an ill-informed standpoint. The lyrics make little sense, and the vocals are equally overcooked in this track. It's more of the same but for seven minutes this time.

I get that not everybody listens to music to be wowed and impressed. Sometimes one just needs some escapism. I can't see this album pleasing either camp with its overdone vocals, overlong solos, and repetitive, boring riffing. I listened to earlier music from SPIRITUS MORTIS and enjoyed it. This album marks a new direction for this band. I'm afraid they've veered way off course with "The Great Seal."