Kollias, George: Invictus

Nile's powerhouse drummer George Kollias is the latest extreme metal performer to try his hand at a solo release, and George's debut album is titled Invictus. Invictus is a destructive death metal recording and also rather the memorable one with an epic/cinematic feel that is very effective. Fans of George's astonishing drumming won't be disappointed as Invictus sure has that and much more. So we know George is a most capable drummer and he's also the percussionist on Invictus, but there is more to George's musical abilities than many will be aware of. As Invictus is very much the majority work of one George Kollias as he also wrote all the music and lyrics plus being quite the multi-instrumentalist George capably took care of most of the other instruments and even the vocals.

While sure Invictus has a good slice of complexity it's not taken to the same level of say a Nile release, so you could say that Invictus is a widely accessible death metal album with more obvious hooks. Some tracks will be familiar to anyone who has viewed George's instructional DVDs Intense Metal Drumming 1 and 2 as they were originally composed for those releases. The album opens with the cinematic sounds of "Echoes of Divinity" that leads us to the title track "Invictus" as the tempo builds and the drums hit warp speed this one packs an almighty punch. Pummelling drumming and darkened riffs feature on"The Passage", "Aeons of Burning Galaxies" is such a catchy and potent track with George's vocals sounding so very wicked. Blasting away with the hostile and epic "Shall Rise/Shall Be Dead" a song that includes a guitar solo by George Emmanuel of Rotting Christ, and there are other guest guitarists that have contributed solos to this album including his Nile band mates. I can't get enough volume on the titanic "Voices" where it's a case of the louder the better and it's sounds so cool with those extra inclusions in the background. Of course George is known for his amazing speed and precision playing on the kit and you will find that on Invictus but not every song is pushing the speed limits like instrumental "Apocalypse" where double kicks are replaced by the sounds of percussion and we find a synth solo by Firewind's Bob Katsionis. There are four alternate versions of album tracks on the edition I ordered which are really worth tracking down, including different vocalists on two.

You wouldn't call Invictus a ground-breaking album but then again how many really are ? Invictus is one for those who like death metal that is intense yet so very infectious as George Kollia's shows he's not just one of metal's finest drummers.

See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!

Track listing
1. Echoes of Divinity
2. Invictus
3. The Passage
4. Aeons of Burning Galaxies
5. Shall Rise/Shall Be Dead
6. Voices
7. Treasures of Nemesis
8. Apocalypse
9. Epitaph
10. Through Empty Eyes of Light
11. Buried under the Flames
Bonus Tracks
12. Aeons of Burning Galaxies (R. Cooley Shred Version)
13. Voices (E. Karadimas Vox Version)
14. Epitaph (Drum Track)
15. Apocalypse (A. Trapalis Violin Version)

Added: June 6th 2015
Reviewer: Scott Jessup
Score:
Related Link: Artist's Website
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Language: english

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