Thursday, May 30, 2013

Album Review: "Drenched In Victorious Blood" by Aetherium Mors

Drenched In Victorious Blood
Brutal mode: Engaged.

Once again it's time to look at an artist submission to Glacially Musical. Checking my email after returning from the hiatus and I have a few bands that would like me to check out their stuff.

First up is Aetherium Mors based out of London. (Gunners fans, am I right?) You have now been warned: The lyrical content of this band is inflammatory. If you are offended by evil lyrics, you will not enjoy this band or this album.

This album was actually released on my 37th Birthday. (I'm not old! I'm 37.) I must apologize to the guys for it taking me so long to get to this review.

They were cool enough to send me the record and now I'm going to check it out for them and for you.


As this album begins, I'm heartily reminded of Carcass but minus a little bit. As the second track, "Luciferian March," begins, I'm beginning to find myself steeped in a world of Death Metal convention.

Death metal bands  have two major handicaps for those of us who are not big fans of the genre: the vocals and the drums. In order to be death metal you must  have the growling vocals and you must have the double bass kicking.

By the time I got into "Kingdom of Shadows," I was seeing that I misjudged this band on the Carcass Minus assessment. Yes this album is brutal.

Yes this album is evil. Yes this album is deftly played. There is one thing these boys have that Carcass and the lot do not have: groove.

As the album moves on into the second act, the death metal conventions are slowly eroding. There are bits here and there of a bit of slop on the fretboard, but those are easily forgiven.

Once you arrive to the middle of the record, there are apreggiated breakdowns, flowing solos, and even a second growler on the tracks that is even lower and more evil than the standard growls.

Like most death metal, this is not something I would choose to listen to for an entire album, but this is a very strong beginning for this group. My biggest complaint with this album is the lack of guitar work. When it's there, the guitars are wonderously done and played with striking precision, but there are too few melodic breaks and solos for my taste.

Aetherium  Mors works inside convention well enough to keep dedicated fans of the style interested and adding in some melody to be more than just another death metal band. This could very well be a band to keep an eye on going forward.

Year: 2012
Genre: Death Metal

Tracklisting:
1) Sons of Men
2) Luciferian March
3) Dreadlord
4) Kingdom of Shadows
5) The Fall of God
6) Order of the Talion
7) Annihilating Fire

The album can be purchased and previewed here.

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