Gloria Morti- Anthems of Annihilation

Anthems of Annihilation is the third full-length album by Finish black/death metal band Gloria Morti. Gloria Morti's brand of black/death metal encompasses the use of keyboard arrangements, which in return there are some good moments on Anthems of Annihilation. The line-up on the album consists of Psycho on vocals, Juho Raiha and Juho Matikainen on guitars, Aki Salonen on bass, Kauko Kuusisalo on drums and Lars Eikind on keyboards.

The vocals on Anthems of Annihilation are made up of a combination of death metal growls and black metal high pitched screams. Two bands that are a close comparison two Gloria Morti are Zyklon and Behemoth, this is easily noticeable throughout the entire running time of the album. Solution Called War is one of the better songs on the album due to the use of the keyboard arrangements in the song. Solution Called War is a fast paced songs with a few moments of rest, but the track quickly picks up the pace when needed. Clean guitars start off Swallowed By Defeat as the track is an instrumental and Redemption seems to be a standout track on the albums, in particularly the drums as they standout the most along with the keyboards. Also I want to mention that the songs on Anthems of Annihilation also show a bit of technical proficiency.

In final I would say that Anthems of Annihilation is just an average release. Gloria Morti has the skills, but in all reality the music displayed on this album has been done numerous times before by other bands and possibly even better. Anthems of Annihilation was mastered at Chartmakers by Svante Forsback. Fans of Behemoth and Zyklon I would recommend them in checking out Anthems of Annihilation.

Rating 6.5/10

Fall of Empyrean- A Life Spent Dying

Doom/death has literally got to be one of my favorite genre's of metal based on the case that the bands use death metal growls along with clean vocals in their sound, and that is what Fall of Empyrean does on their new album A Life Spent Dying. Resulting in a perfect combination that results in devastation, despair and anger. Fall of Empyrean's new album A Life Spent Dying finally is released the album was supposed to come out in May, but got delayed a bit.

Fall of Empyrean also use a keyboard that plays a major part to the overall sound on A Life Spent Dying. The production is really clear as I am able to distinguish each instrument in the mix, the vocals of Richard Medina are a death metal growl that shatters everything in site, he also switches over to clean vocals during some of the songs. Anhendonia and Lifeless In My Arms are well constructed acoustic instrumentals. A Long Silence is filled with sorrow and anguish based on reading the lyrics and also gives off a visual of sorts, mournful keyboard work fills the track. The keyboard work in Veins Split Wide has some sort of symphonic feel as well and making the song a standout track on the album. Catharsis starts off with blasting drums and overall the song seems more toward the death metal side.

When it comes to doom/death for the United States it looks like I have one bands releases to look forward to and that is Fall of Empyrean. Hopefully Fall of Empyrean will continue to release albums in the future and here is one band I will be keeping up with, because I am certain they will be able to release other quality albums.

Rating 8.0/10