For four albums now, Ex Deo, the Roman-themed symphonic death metal act from Kataklysm’s Maurizio Iacono has steadily improved from a lazy Kataklysm clone with keyboards to a pretty solid act. Well with a Switch of labels from Nalapm Records to Reigning Phoenix, here is a taster EP to celebrate the shift.

After covering the Second Punic War with The Immortal Wars and Nero’s reign on The Thirteen Years of Nero, Ex Deo has moved to AD 69- the tumultuous year of .. well four emperors. Each of the songs is named after the respective emperors; Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian.

The formula is the same though, mid-paced chugging, excellently produced Kataklysm-ish death metal with a heavy use of keyboards a la Fleshgod Apocalypse, and such. “Galba” chugs along with commanding heft, while “Otho” is a massive lumbering number. “Vitellius” is more of the same, but a tad slower and it’s clear Ex Deo is a one-trick pony, even if that trick is pretty solid, but the band will never be on par with ADE.

That said, the last track “Vespasian”, is befitting of his Flavian Dynasty where Rome came out of the prior three emperors’ chaos to flourish and prosper for 27 years. The track’s triumphant, rousing riffs and epic synths come together to maybe make for Ex Deo‘s best track of their entire discography, and fulfill all that epic source materials potential finally. I hope the next full length continues the improvement.

[Visit the band's website]

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