After a half-decade spent variously pulling and sharpening their teeth in the shadows Mikkeli, Finland-based black metal band MORGAL return a steel-jawed quartet per this inspired sophomore full-length album. Yet informed by classic black/thrash and melodic black metal traits ‘The Seventh Circle‘ resembles deeper fusion of these elemental markers, no less a heavy metal album than their first but also a well-considered, mightily performed delve into their ‘ready established cause. Though the usual bigger-is-better tendencies of any second album apply here in terms of boldly applied style these folks haven’t mutated their total impact so much as sharpened their blade unto a brilliantly concise hammer of an album.

Morgal formed as a trio circa 2014, a group of wunderkind working within the bounds of Satanic heavy metal infused black metal popularity. Their first couple of minor releases were immediately promising, you can skip ‘The Azazel’s Throne‘ (2015), find some reasonable progress made on ‘Käärmesielu‘ (2016) as a stepping stone etc. but it was ‘Mistress of Blood‘ (2017) that’d indicated the signature of the band. Marked by a strong lead guitar hand and their own reverse-engineering of heavy metal from 90’s Scandinavian black metal the trio’s self-titled debut EP (‘Morgal‘, 2018) was sublime payoff for their dedication up to that point. It could be reasonably framed as the defining release for the band, or, a secure foundation for the two albums that’ve released since. I think at the time of release I’d suggested “The future of true Finnish black metal would do well in the hands of heathen such as this.” and despite a couple of irritated comments submitted in response back then I still think that holds true.

The Mark I configuration of Morgal would crown itself with the achievement of ‘Nightmare Lord‘ (2021), a fully evolved form of the potency gathered up to that point where their interest in “epic” heavy/speed metal and its application to (mostly Swedish) melodic black metal had aligned in ideal ratio. Comparisons to Nifelheim and the evolution of Deströyer 666 made some sense per the stylistic split in hand but I wouldn’t suggest zero inspiration taken from Finnish black metal in their work. As we will find on ‘The Seventh Circle‘ they’d still plenty more room to be more heavy metal, more melodic and even more ripping in their glom of black/speed metal structured harass.

This new Mark II configuration of Morgal includes new vocalist/bassist Tomb Nekrofiler and Killhammer from lead guitarist Crusher‘s now defunct thrash band Powar on rhythm guitar, upholding the band’s high standard of musicianship despite the line-up change. I wouldn’t say they’ve rebalanced their ratio on ‘The Seventh Circle‘ so much as absorbed much of it into a fusion which allows for the knives-out intensity of ‘Morgal‘ to sidle up to their heavy/speed metal interest without losing any of their charge in the process. Side A closer “Goddess of Death” probably yields the most coherent example of this, the full ouevre of the band at prime comorbidity. That said I think most folks will hear the cold creep of mid-90’s melodic black metal in their sound up front before appreciating the ‘The Third Storm of Cythraul‘-like effect of the full listen.

Opener “Stormchaser” and follow-up “Tales of Woland” offer some of Morgal‘s more kinetically charged wrath up front, showcasing some rhythmic finesse gained in the five year interim while also putting their already impressive drummer to task. The drum production here isn’t perfect, plays better on headphones in terms of the double-bass throttling movements, but this doesn’t dissolve their impact. I’d particularly enjoyed the stab through “Tales of Woland”, which I wouldn’t say is fully channeling albums like ‘Tara‘ (or ‘Satanic Slaughter‘, even) but the lead style and pummel of their pace briefly pings that level of freneticism and lead-driven thread in mind. The combined impact of those first two songs sold the album outright for my own taste in taking the core idea of the first record and simply going harder at it. Throw in the aforementioned “Goddess of Death” and Side A is already the most superior material from the band to date.

The second half of ‘The Seventh Circle‘ revives some of their second wave meets speed metal thresher (“Blessed in Hell”) aims for something closer to modern Finnish black metal from their point of view (“Harbinger’s Ritual”) and ensures every piece here counts, no total throwaway pieces but also nothing so sophisticated in motion that it reaches pretention. The extended finale of “The Damned from the Seventh Circle” is the most compelling chunk of Side B and a fiery tunnel back toward the impact of the opening pieces, probably the best song to pull together all elements of Morgal‘s style without backing off into steadier heavy metal punting.

The whole thing rips past at ~33 minutes and there isn’t a miss or a dry turd in the lot, no stylistic breaks or hifalutin presentation beyond a thirty second intro to start. I’d found ‘The Seventh Circle‘ infinitely repeatable, bearing just enough detail to showcase that these folks can play while melding many points of inspiration into a solid album. While I’d gotten a kick out of their first record this one is a clear one-upping of its intent, a feat which is seamless in its impact and concise enough to reaffirm what Morgal are all about. A high recommendation.

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