Ex Mortis Gloria

Rome is burning again! To be honest, here is an album I may have rated higher, had I encountered it earlier on my never-ending quest for verum metallum romanum. Uncompromising technical death metal coming from (Roman) Britain, packed with conquering legions and irate emperors growling over the endless wails of their victims: it had some appeal no doubt, the sweet appeal of fresh blood. Only, coming after ADE, Ordo Inferus, or even minor local acts like Asterium, it appears a bit too much like another death metal band exploring the brutal side of ancient Rome, like another cover artwork painted with fire and flames – and like another band called Imperium, too.

No surprise, the general impression following the first spin of this Ex Mortis Gloria is one of total annihilation under the feet of a thousand praetorians, with little space allowed to breathe or merely cry for mercy. Granted, considering the album title, and further considering songtitles such as Echoes of Slain Kings or Burning Crucifixions in the Garden of Nero, we already knew it wouldn't be about chasing butterflies along the Via Appia anyway. Digging further, the underlying subtleties emerge slowly, revealing a more complex background under the bestial surface. These songs are different, clearly; these musicians are skilled, that's clear too. Still that's not enough.

Fact is, it isn't THAT technical. It's fast, no doubt; if you except the few occasional breakdowns it's constantly, obstinately fast; at times it's even very fast... only, technical or fast, this isn't exactly the same. Take the drums. That's incidentally Janne Jaloma, with already quite a respectable discography, behind the kit. So, what? The double bass may get fast to the point you can hardly distinguish between the hits any more, while the snare has to endlessly endure the most ferocious of the poundings – then that's it, really. Shall we blame the production, which buries the toms far too much? In the wake of this fury, the poor mortal you are is left forever starving for the extra acrobatics which would have made the drumming lines truly memorable. Same for the riffs, because for sure it riffs, it riffs fast, it riffs angrily, it riffs low-tuned...now if only it had riffed slightly more, well, personal.

The leads are kind of a mixed bag, too. With often multiple solos per song, they're obviously an essential component of the sound; still, while they can reach moments of genuine grandeur, like in the as long as frantic performances closing Indignitas and Under Shadows of Giants, a tad too often they sum up to the guy pulling random strings for ten seconds because, you know, there had to be a solo there. Further on this topic, Per Silentium Noctis is a weird number, with its instrumental middle section which doesn't manage to fully convince, as if it was hesitating between a real melodic break and a more straightforward display of technical guitar skills, without being any of the two.

Thus, the best feature here are probably the vocals. On the one hand they're exactly what you expect, that is, exclusively growled, and of the most animal kind; on the other hand this animality remains varied enough to prevent monotony: it shouts – ha, these two screams on the final track! -, it barks, above all it bites, and bites deeply. Let's mention the few Nile-isms, too – or should we say, in order to fully stay in the Roman realm, some ADE-isms – with these short atmospheric keyboard licks, plucked strings and mid-Eastern psalmodies, alas too easily overshadowed by the rampant brutality: the general intro Para Mortem, a short break in the middle of Seven Legions, or a few seconds of eerie intro here and there before the slaughter resumes. The obligatory Mediterranean touch we'll gladly welcome of course, even if it's been explored, and explored more in depth, before.

Picking out songs from such a carnage is a minor matter, as even if, once again, said songs sound, indeed, different enough, that's the sort of work you'll usually listen to for its overall inhuman mood, rather than for its individualities. If we really had to choose, we may go for the most furious of the furious, that's Seven Legions, or, kind of the opposite, for Under the Shadow of Giants with its progressively increasing tempo building into a monument of epic proportions – a monument you're crushed under.

Finally Nero can but gaze over the charred remains of the Urbs he just burnt. Maybe he didn't burn it after all, so the historians say. Who Cares. Ex Mortis Gloria might not be the most extraordinary encounter on our quest, it nonetheless performs its destruction job up to completion. We observe, approve – then comes the time to cure the wounds.

Highlights: Seven Legions; Indignitas; Under Shadows of Giants.

I am all about the Ancient World, and England's Imperium are all about taking all of that history, that conquest and culture and architecture, in particular of the Roman variety, and then filtering it through a lens of brutal whoop-ass that will absolutely be sending me to an appointment with my chiropractor. While at times the contrast between extreme modernity and thematic classicism can seem disjointed, there is just enough use of atmospherics to feel like it isn't out of place. But I will warn the potential listener: this record is almost suffocating in its total intensity, while the band is smart enough to let a few of the riffing sequences air out, to create some pauses amidst the pummeling, when this bands fires on all cylinders it can almost prove dizzying.

The main cause of this is the incredible interplay between guitarist Mike Alexander, a name that should probably be on everyone's lips after hearing his ceaseless volley of frenzied, fluid, complicated riffs, and the drummer, Swedish veteran Janne Jaloma (Night Crowned, Dark Funeral, Aeon, and many others), who is like caged thunder, battering his kit at levels of extremity that I hardly believe. Complement these two with a vocalist whose broad snarls, growls and howls make a necessary contrast against the sweltering complexity and you've got a force to be reckoned. I mean, Ex Mortis Gloria is really one of those albums you find yourself listening to and wondering if we've just gone too far? But then the band will reel you straight back in with a measured, elegant lead like that of "Indignitas" and keep you just grounded enough to not lose your shit entirely. If you've got a weak heart, however, this might be one you want to ingest in smaller doses, or at least turn it down a smidge from the volume I was stupid enough to experience it at.

I cannot imagine this album not taking Imperium places, for all its intensity it relies more on sheer musicality than dissonance, and while the faster material can grow exhausting, there is plenty more going on. It easily breaks the proficiency scale, its got that nice historical theming going for it akin to an Ade or an Ex Deo, and it ticks every brutal box, crumples up the test and asphyxiates you with it. Now if you'll excuse me I need some oxygen.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com