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Band: Cult Of Erinyes
Album title: Tiberivs
Release date: 27th April 2017
Label: Code666
Tracklist:
01. Achaea, 41 B.C.
02. Nero (Divine Providence)
03. Casvs Belli
04. Bred For War
05. Loner
06. Germanicvs
07. First Of Men
08. Damnatio Memoriae
09. For Centuries To Come
The Belgian act Cult Of Erinyes has been on the metal scene since 2009. With their previous two EP's and a full-length album, the band has always shown its strength and talent in a passionate way in a quest for deep research of human nature and its many psychological facets that lead to often hateful and questionable behaviors. What differs in one band from another is the level of commitment and passion for what is proposed. Often the sound, the instrumental side, compositions, the individuals behind it are in perfect harmony, but the vocals, and especially the lyrics are incipient, superficial and what is worse, both the leader of the band and other members "fake" a certain behavior in detriment of a greater acclimation among the fans.
This is of course not the case with Cult Of Erinyes. The degree of maturity and dexterity here is excellent, the lyrics are historical poetry in the wide range of the word. The historical thematics used on this album were previously well explored to create this kind of a concept album, and by itself deserves acclaim. And, including the engagement of the other members in this work, could only result in a finest art.
This is a black metal album with many atmospheric moments, but it is not a progressive black metal, nor it's a typical atmospheric black metal thing. There is a lot of brutality present, the old school vibe is there in a sweeping, but polished, well filtered way and the quieter and more atmospheric parts blend perfectly into all the whole soundscape, creating it even more audacious.
Tiberivs is a 55 minutes album distributed among nine tracks, very well contextualized in thematic terms that explore the Tiberius era of the Roman Empire. This album is fascinating in all aspects, belive me that you will submerge into it and will only come out when the last chord ends. This is the kind of work you will hear many, many times without getting seasick. Cutting music, intense, brutal and hard, sometimes deliberately discordant, but with atmospheric elements strategically distributed as small ornaments that helps to keep you wrapped to the plot.
Fast riffs and high-impact beats are found in every song, low and mid-tempos. The progressive atmosphere transports the band's style to a higher and extremely enjoyable level of listening. Tiberivs is composed of sound layers that are interspersed very well. The vocalist Mastema, offers another performance of quality, imposing himself in a colossal and mature form. The passion dedicated to this album makes the farewell of Mastema epic, the diversity with which it reaches the shrieks that cause shivers down the spine and the guttural grunts without repeating them massively are the proof of it. Special enphasis for Algol on bass and guitars, Baron on lead guitars and Marc De Backer that brought us the clean guitar and awesome solos. The renowned bass player who has played with Kall and Hypothermia, Alex, offers us a very high quality bass lines in the intro, "Achaea, 41 B.C.".
Tiberivs is one of that kind of albums on which for me it is extremely difficult to choose few preferred tracks. From the moment I pushed the play to the very end I plunged into the story and did not even feel the time pass by. Anyway, "Loner" will be the track that I will choose to represent one of the melancholic parts that I liked the most, the guitars are extremely beautiful and are enriched by scratchy clarinet sounds. The top 10 tracks of brutal ferocity goes to "Nero", "Bred For War" and "Germanicvs". But please! All the songs are great, it's a crime to listen to some tracks or listen to them randomly. It's a concept album, FFS!! You must hear it in its entirety! Don't miss out this work of art, you'll bloody regret, I wish long life to this excellent ritualistic black metal band!
Review written by: Felin Frost
Rating: 9,5/10
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