Italian death meal act Ade return with their sophomore release on Blasthead Records, the adventurous Spartacus. You guessed it, these guys are way into Roman & Greek history, so they mix their intense lyrical fare with crushing, often times technical death metal, for a combination that is sure to please fans of bands like Nile, Behemoth, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Decapitated. In fact, Nile legend George Kollias adds his always impressive drum work to the album, which will be a big selling point for many extreme metal fans.
And impressive Spartacus is for the most part. This is epic stuff from start to finish, so if you lean towards the more bombastic, dramatic, and technical end of the genre, you've come to the right place. The dual guitar attack of Messor & Fabio create twisting, churning riffs alongside Kollias' blasting on the raging "The Endless Runaway", while vocalist Flavio spews his venom on the brutal "Crixius Flags Of Dishonor", a real crushing number with sizzling lead guitar, pummeling riffs, and jackhammer rhythms to go along with lyrics about the mighty warrior Crixius. The highly technical "Duelling The Shadow Of Spartacus" features some blistering riffs alongside the intense rhythms from Kollias & bassist Caligvla, as well as some spooky sound effects and female vocal choirs, and another album highlight is the symphonic yet pulverizing "Six Thousands Crosses", a tune that really shows the full talents of the band.
Ade might not be attempting anything truly unique here on Spartacus, but what they have created is damn good. If an epic death metal album filled with Greek & Roman lyrical imagery, killer guitar riffs, and blazing drum work sounds appealing, then you'll need to investigate this one.
Track Listing
1.
Betrayer From Thrace
03:31
2.
Sanguine Pluit in Arena
04:34
3.
The Endless Runaway
04:28
4.
Crixius Flags Of Dishonor
04:48
5.
Duelling The Shadow Of Spartacus
03:32
6.
Mars Unpredictable Favour
03:52
7.
Decimate The Coward
03:15
8.
Six Thousands Crosses
05:42
9.
Divinitus Victor
03:31
10.
For Everything To Be The Same...
05:02
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