It could have been logical to compare them to another long-established band in the same category, namely Fleshgod Apocalypse, but the two have very different signatures. Ex Deo use the heyday and conquests of the Roman Empire as thematic concept, and the music is less intense and more epic than what the Italians represent. As deeply integrated as the orchestral goodies are, I would actually dare claim that The Immortal Wars has more in common with Septicflesh. Ex Deo is admittedly not quite on par with the Greeks in terms of song-writing, but then again, who is?

The multifaceted spirit of the symphonies dominates this work to such an extent that, at least to begin with, it impresses more than the metallic foundation, but it is of course the omnipresent totality that forms the finished product. A product in the shape of a puzzle for the mind. It takes time for the album to sink in. Rome was not built in one day, you know. While the pieces slowly fall into place, the album may fortunately be enjoyed from the first moment, albeit not without a certain meagre creeping scepticism toward the intrinsic strength of the compositions at first. The pieces eventually form a majestic, or rather imperial framework that convey dramatic intrigues in a Roman tragedy, worthy of a performance in the very Colosseum itself.

Ardek from Carach Angren has been given the task of orchestrating this epic work, and as always, he does an outstanding job. The interaction between Ardeks contributions and the band's metal is magnificent, and the vocals provide colourization to the dramaturgy. The music is performed with immersion and presented with bombastic sound.

The band's first album, Romulus (2009) indicated a promising future, but it was the sequel Caligvla (2012) that verily made the band fulfil their potential. Although the genre itself is no longer original, there is still distinctiveness to retrieve for those who put their souls into it. With solid quality in all aspects, and a concept that becomes elucidated like a precise tone painting, Ex Deo's third album becomes a release that confirms the band's distinctive signature.

I vacillated between ratings of 4 and 5 for a long time, and still do to some degree, but despite competent song-writing, the material doesn't become enormously memorable, regardless of fairly ample depth and substance. I think it might have to do with the structures of the songs which could have been a wee bit more refined. But even though The Immortal Wars isn't perfect, it's still unmistakably recommendable for fans of symphonic extreme metal. The performance is solid, the atmosphere is moving, the production is rich (albeit sporting low dynamics) and the songs of course don't lack finesse and details as such.
Rating: 4+

See the video for The Roman below if you're old enough, and hear The Rise Of Hannibal.

As with the first album, Slaves of the Vast Machine consists of 45 minutes of raw and aggressive black metal. But where the debut consisted of seven songs, the music is this time collected into, or rather composed as a single seamless composition. When you learn that the album consists of a single 45 minute long song, your sceptical consciousness might just raise a few critical questions, but once you've start listening, it's a fair chance you'll simply continue at it, through all three quarters of an hour.
Whether the album was initially supposed to contain a single composition, or if the song-writing simply evolved in that direction, is an open question. The track has a natural drive with constant progression, and although this is not common within black metal, it never feels wrong.

Slaves... is my first encounter with the Swedes, and I was quickly spellbound by their intense war machine. I don't know much about the album's concept, but they paint a dystopic scenario in an Orwellian setting. A scenario of all-encompassing denial of personal freedom in a futuristic autocratic world infected with absolute surveillance and full governmental control in a society where citizens cope with unhappiness, misery and nervousness.

The music is completely antagonistic and entirely warlike. Expect no pit stops or breathers. Apart from a few sequences where the pace calms slightly, only constant, ill-natured and and impetuous rush is offered. Marduk would have been a typical reference. Not because of great similarities, but because of aggression, temperament and lack of respect for the speed limit.

For a while during my first listen to the album in its entirety, I feared that boredom would eventually come crawling. Not everyone is able to pull off full throttle for three noninterrupted quarters without gradually emerging as monotonous. Obitus, however, achieve this feat in impeccable manners by providing adequate variation in sharp riffs and striking rhythms. This is authentic black metal, full of rage, disgust and eeriness. The melody lines you can dig out of the ice doesn't qualify for the term melodic, but contributes to an icy malignant mood, and the razor-sharp vocals gives a beneficial contribution to a vicious circle, spiralling straight down to Hell.

Slaves of the Vast Machine is a fierce and fiery display of true Nordic black metal:
cutting, biting, odious, uncompromising, profane, violent, intense, hostile and militant.
Rating: 5-

There's something about the chasing rhythms, the genuinely pissed vocals and transitions that fits like a glove, that made said song a direct hit. It should be said that the rest of the album doesn't strike as immediately, and the album at first appeared as somewhat less good than originally anticipated. That's more or less the very definition of disappointment, but ideally one should never jump that quickly to conclusions, although both I and most likely even more patient souls have made that mistake a few times. Expectations are a double-edged sword, and time is the antidote. A befitting approach is to put the album on the shelf for a few days, get some distance and reset the expectations. It did the trick this time as well.

The band was founded in 2004, and according to Encyclopaedia Metallum, they've got twice as many former members as present ones. The number increases if we include information from the press release, suggesting that the bassist is out of the race. Messrs Mathias Junge and Arne Uekert both partake on guitars and crazed rancid vocals, while the latter handles bass. Infernal Desaster, who did the drums on the last album as a guest, is back behind the kit as a permanent member.

Despite the band name, and the fact that the trio are inspired by you-know-who, the mood of the album is not as linked to R'lyeh as one might think. Ctulu don't play traditional black metal, but rather a hasty and often rushing variant with traces of death metal. The tempo is kept fairly high, but not quite at speed metal level. Something about the atmosphere of hostility holds the pace back, too busy barking and lashing out in all directions to keep up with the darting rhythm. It's as if they race against Marduk, but lose because they stop to yell at the spectators. Musically speaking, there's nothing wrong with that, and aside from the bolting hast, I don't mean to propose any comparison with the Swedes.

The music is, however, not the result of haste. It seems thoughtful, but not too calculated. The expression has an inherent character of pagan metal. Pagan metal which in this case have lost its temper, spitting and spewing bile in all directions. I enjoy the raging madness, even though the album does not excel tremendously. The albums is basically good, but the uniformity in the most breathless parts can become an objection. It should be pointed out, though, that Infernal Desaster creates decent variety, and that the riffs don't allow mere monotony.

Another one of my favourite songs is Serce krwawe. It kicks off the album, but could certainly have been place further out on the album, for variety is the spice of life, and this precise song is the only one where the pace is tethered and restrained with leaden chains, offering on rich, dark and doomy disgust with atonal spices. Also Rozgoryczona, rozczarowana, a gotowa na wszystko stand out positively with solid obscure mysticism.

With more killer tracks like these, and generally a bit stronger variation in tempo outward the trail of the album, it would have appealed even more than what it ends up doing, for the three aforementioned songs are among the first four of eight songs. The quality of the song material is slightly varying, but on average I call Ctulu quite a good album. If you favour rabid furore, you certainly get your fix for it from these competent barbarians, prowling the German forests.
Rating: 4-

It's a mild and gentle form of extreme metal with a moderate sensation of the Middle East that meets the listener. Reign has a hint of traditional melodic and progressive metal and a touch of youthful “modernism”. One of the founders calls himself Tiamat Invictuz, which is quite appropriate given that Tiamat is one of the bands I find similarities to. Sons Ov Omega is probably a bit sharper in the edges according to what I can recall, but these younger Swedes can also be a bit polished. Especially in the clean vocals.

The sound is clear, but the mix some times tend to favour the vocals which drowns out the instrumentation a bit. There are small debris to nitpick at regarding different aspects of sound, song-writing and performance, but no major blunders. My main objection is misplaced tenderness in the expression, which becomes a little too neat in combination with extreme elements. At its most polished, the music feels just as incompatible as nu-extreme metal with hints of grunge, which becomes a little too schizophrenic for me. These are admittedly just mental prejudices and difficulties at adapting, but that's how it is with stubborn and headstrong musical taste. That the album in addition lasts for 65 minutes gives quite a lot of music to absorb, and a bit too many undesirable debris to comply with along the way. When the Swedes steer clear of clean vocals and their most modern whims, they dish up quite nifty metal however. Take finishing Cthulhu (track 11) as an example of properly dark and powerful metal.

It's always a possibility that we will see a more streamlined expression from a band that increasingly finds their own identity and niche the next time around, when the band has had more time to mature. These songs are written over a period of several years, not that it necessarily means anything. The Swedes do seem coordinated in their direction, although the expression has a hint of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Sons Ov Omega will certainly find its audience, but for the time being, I don't belong in the most enthusiastic fanbase.
Rating: 3

Watch the lyric video for Pandora if you like.

The music surrounding the concept can roughly and simplified be called horror-infused black doom. The style is a little of both, yet not entirely any of them. The band defies genre restrictions, and uses the riffs and playing techniques they see fit. The leisurely pace and the dim atmosphere works well regardless of pigeon-holing.

The music's rather viscous flow and lightly groovy approach to proto-black is not the easiest to express in words. It's in no way dated, but still feels as if it has its origins in a bygone era, albeit in a timeless manner. I pick up some Celtic Frost vibes, but struggle to come up with more relevant references.
Loch Ness Rising has become a fairly evocative album with a sense of classic metal in riffs, where Killjoy's crazed vocals of the dark arts becomes the most extreme element. The somewhat ominous moods we are exposed to, are those of black magic, without this feeling very ominous. The music is occasionally sprinkled with samples of old recordings, likely by Mr. Crowley himself. These don't have a lot of effect, though. Recording technology and what is known as Mid-Atlantic accent makes all old recordings sounds exactly the same. It could just as easily have been Winston Churchill.

Loch Ness Rising is not an invaluable album, but I enjoy it, and good variation in the material makes it a likeable 42-minute affair. Sometimes, the task of conveying the essence of a release grow to a near insurmountable task, but know this; the album is better than this review!
Rating: 4-