A group of friends from Finland, fans of bands like JUDAS PRIEST and OZZY, have been jamming since 2013 and 8 years later in 2021, decided to create a band called MOURNING WOOD. Then in 2023 they released an EP with 5 tracks called Fill Your Grave. More or less like a perfect relationship between lovers. 8 years dating, a couple of years as bride and groom, and finally the marriage. Finland is well known for every kind of Metal from NIGHTWISH to CHILDREN OF BODOM and it will be interesting to check what has influenced the band’s sound. We start with the album title “Fill Your Grave” and we can see an energetic Heavy Metal output with classic 80’s vibe. The songs are well structured and offer different moods and good musicianship. This tune specifically ends a little strange however.

We reach “Last Drop” and this one is a little more on the softer commercial side. Their sound reminds me of bands like EUROPE and WINGER and is a little too commercial for my taste. MOURNING WOOD has a good guitar player on Eino-Akseli Koski with creative riffs and piercing solos as you can hear on “Sociopath”. This tune for me is the best of the album so far. The bass of Lari Lämpsä is also present in the mix and has some interesting licks that shines away from the guitar. “Ave Maria” is next and starts with the competent drumming Hanna-Leena ”Hanska” Lassila that can do it all in the world of double bass drum madness. This is another good energetic track on this album with a lot of elements to explore, and a killer  guitar solo. We end the EP with the interesting “Gone At Last” that gave me vibes of QUEENSRYCHE without the singer. The singing on this album is exactly what I think needs to be improved in my opinion. The singer Jussi Holopainen has reasonable reach in his voice, but the melodies in some tunes does not explore that advantage as much as it should.

The melodies in some tunes are not very catchy and lack pitch variations in the main singing to make it more memorable. Composing a good tune with a good melody is a bitch and I appreciate the effort. However, if you want to make it in this market, and with this kind of Metal, memorable singing melodies is a must. Good first release nevertheless and I hope that the band will develop their songs for a better second release.