Ex Rosa Ceremonia

The biggest change for Pulchra Morte from the previous year’s well-received debut album was a vocalist switch and addition of a permanent bassist, bringing in 2 more Wolvhammer men, one of whom currently doubles as frontman for Skeletonwitch, namely Adam Clemans. Though his low, dry roars were quite different to Chance Garnette in his other band, Clemans doesn’t drastically alter the formula put forth on Divina Autem et Aniles, nor have the rest of the group shifted focus away from a dense deathly take on early Paradise Lost. Sonically, Ex Rosa Ceremonia feels a touch more modern than the sandy debut, cutting into fewer gothic shapes and sticking more steadfastly to the rolling heaviness despite some Gregor Mackintosh-inspired melodies and clean vocals on pre-release single 'Knife of the Will'. As a result, Pulchra Morte could easily appear on a bill alongside death, doom, or sludge artists.

Where this follow-up struggles in contrast to the band’s earlier success is in defining individual songs against one another. The long intro to 'Prince Among Shadows' effectively changes the dynamics in the middle of the album, as does the echoing opening and airy melody of 'Locust Humanity', yet most of these 9 songs sit in a similar pocket and maintain a steady momentum that seems fast for a doom outfit but relaxed for death metal. Sometimes the thick grooves hit almost like a free-flowing Crowbar, 'To Suffer (the Way You Do)' sounding like both a stolen title and direct nod to the NOLA sludgers, yet that comparison agrees with the notion that lead instruments largely stay dormant, very few solos appearing and the melodies never being foregrounded. That leaves Ex Rosa Ceremonia with a nice moody, bruised tone overall but - other than a few brief guest appearances - lacking in specifics, which suggests that this new line-up haven’t quite gelled yet.


Originally written as part of Slow Cuts of 2020 for The Metal Observer - http://www.metal-observer.com/3.o/slow-cuts-of-2020/