I checked out the promo for the third album from this UK-based act as it dropped words like Nile and Behemoth as well as Roman and Greek Mythology. Sold! And I wasn’t disappointed as Ex Mortis Gloria (From Death Comes Glory) is a damn solid record.

A little research into the band shows it comprises some pretty respectable folks who have performed live with, were in or are still in bands like Dark Funeral, Olkoth, Hideous Divinity, Bloodshot Dawn, and Basement Torture Killings. And the end result is a no-nonsense 10-song 48-minute blackened technical death metal album that pretty well blisters skin from start to finish.

Now, while there are a couple of atmospheric interludes, keyboards and song intros, the Roman moods and themes of this album are mostly delivered by way of the lyrics and riff structures. So this isn’t Ex Deo-ish, pompous, keyboard-heavy material, but more direct ADE-styled death metal riffage, but with a more relentless almost bestial, Angelcorpse style, and there are definitely some Nile-isms in the riffage as well ( just listen to “Indignitas”), and Dallas Toler Wade even makes an appearance on “Burning Crucifixions in the Garden of Nero”.

The 9 tracks (there is a short intro) range from 4-8 minutes and are very complex, and as with the expected Nile influence, technical death metal in composition but with a slight sense of restraint and some militant almost black metal-ish marches here and there  (“Echoes of Slain Kings”, “Echos on Seas of Black”). But nothing truly monolithic or earth-shaking due to the very clinical, clean production that focuses on razor-sharp riffs and busy leads ( i.e. “Per Silentium Noctis”) as opposed to low-end rumbles.

That said, this kind of epic, blood-pumping subject matter kinda needs a massive lurching number here and there- I mean Nile makes a living off that (one would argue their best moments even) , and occasionally when listening to this album, even though they slow down every so often, I still hear myself telling the guys to take a break once in a while, and not just a 10-second acoustic Roman bridge. This album could have been really elevated by a “Unas, Slayer of Gods” or “To Dream or Ur” type number.  The eight-minute “Under the Shadows of Giants” and closer “Forged in Treachery” come close, with an opening lurches and a few slower parts scattered around the chaos, but the production saps some of the power.

Still, a very good record that is indeed for fans of Nile, and definitely ADE and recent Hour Penance. And I think I’ll be going back and checking out the prior 2 albums Sacramentum and Titanomachy.

[Visit the band's website]

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