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| Artwork by Phlegeton |
Ade's new full-length Spartacus is available on the Blast Head Records Bandcamp. The Italien band calls their music "Ancient Roman Death Metal" and it is a fitting moniker. Technical death metal played with a brutality that matches the battlefields of yore, and infused with traditional instrumentation. The little bass flourishes, guitars leads, and drums fills so typical of technical death metal, are replaced with short sections featuring ancient string instruments like the lyra and the oud. There's also well integrated parts with tribal drumming, female vocals, and haunting choirs. They create the proper "ancient" atmosphere without making Spartacus sound less metal in any way.
The metal elements themselves are top notch. The drumming (by George Kollias of Nile fame) is intense. The singer uses a raw mid range style that fits perfectly with the music, not too high or too low. The guitarists are given places to shine like the piercing lead in "Duelling The Shadow Of Spartacus". The bass, well, I don't know, because Spartacus is wrapped in a clear modern production where the bass isn't given much room. But that is a minor flaw that doesn't really detract anything from this energetic and engaging album. Check out Erik Thomas' review from Teeth of the Divine, then jump into the fray.
[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]