It took six years before the Finnish band MORKETIDA made a leap from their simple demo of 2012 until finally this full-length, "Panphage Mysticism", scheduled to be released on August 17, 2018 by Werewolf Records. MORKETIDA is the type of band that has its feet in the dark occult soil with a sound very close to some releases of the 90's and although we can see again the names of Nagafir and Sol heading the line-up of the band still see a third Untitled member on the cover, so either I'm missing out on some information or we definitely have something else not mentioned about this work.  After all, I think it would take an extra hand during the shows.

'"Panphage Mysticism" is part of the 2018 line-up that leaps out of this new wave of Black Metal with new elements, taking its sonority to a more traditionalist side and with its own sound personality despite the trivial style being strongly present in the compositions.  We can note this from the 1:07 minute "Intro" with horror traits that refer me to old movies of the 50's.  This would surely give a soundtrack appropriate for black and white films.

We went on to "Invoking the Seventh Moon" and although the guitars sound like a wasp buzzing in their ear, the drums and bass integration provide a safe floor for the chewed Nagafir vocal.  I still think that vocals popping their ears in top of the instrumental is an unnecessary thing but MORKETIDA know how to integrate all the elements well and even if the production is not so clear yet it is still possible to pay attention to all the details. The same formula is applied in "Witchcraft" and the guitar wins a more melodious and dramatic line.  We have a little acceleration in some moments that differs from the previous track.

I like how Nagafir inserts the vocals in this album.  The sensation is as if he sang in the bottom of a cave which does not make the grunts so rough in the ears. I really like the structure of this album.  Nothing is too much trouble.  Of course there is nothing absolutely impressive, but it is always good to hear an album without so much weight of the exaggerations.  There are no gigantic tracks here and although we only have eight tracks this is an album that I point to the audition because it maintains a sound class level and sincerely the absurdity of some bands make things unbearable to hear in some moments.  This is not the case of MORKETIDA, so tracks like "Serpent's Grail" and "Throne of Unseen" is an excellent example of the Finnish scenario.

"Panphage Mysticism", the title track of this album is certainly the best, most dense and well composed throughout the structure, and the bass work here makes the instrumental a bit darker than the rest of the album. Sol Schwarz has an interesting way of working the guitar lines on the tracks and even with the chaos present in "Temple of Prevailing Darkness," we can find interesting lines at the beginning, although it is the track where the drum kit gains acceleration.

We closed the album in the cadaveric "Outro" and as the introduction is about a little more than a minute just instrumental and obviously that initial idea that this album would give a fair soundtrack to horrifying films of the past.  I close is a review stating that this is a release that makes up for its auditions this year, we just hope the next release will not take six more years to come to life.