Band: Gloria Morti
Title: Anthems Of Annihilation
Label: Cyclone Empire
Distribution: Sure Shot Worx
Release date: September 30th 2010
Review: CD

The history of Gloria Morti takes a start at the end of the nineties in the Finnish city of Heinola. The quartet (back then Gloria Morti were a four-members collection) records several demo tapes and a strong promo-MCD, called Phoenix Caged In Flesh, which marked an evolution from intense and obscure Thrash Metal into a darker and much more brutal form of Death / Black Metal.
In 2004, Gloria Morti signed to the Japanese label World Chaos Productions, which resulted in the release of the debut album called Lifestream Corrosion. Somewhat later on, Cyclone Empire, still one of the fastest growing labels nowadays, offered the band a new deal. 2008 saw the release of self-financed album Eryx (review posted in June 2008), one of the most surprising albums that very same year, I guess.

The band, nowadays a quintet (main man and Before The Dawn / Riverside Syndicate-member Juho Räihä-g, vocalist Psycho from Death / Thrash band Nemecic, Aki Salonen-b, Juho Matikainen-g, and Kauko Kuusisalo-d), recorded Anthems Of Annihilation, the third studio full length, at Juho Räihä’s home studio. The keyboard arrangements were done by Norwegian friend and colleague Lars Eric Si Eikind, (former or current) member of e.g. Age Of Silence, Winds, Tulus, Khold or Sensa Anima, a talented musician who collaborates with Juho as vocalist in Before The Dawn. And FYI: the mastering was taken care of at Chartmakers by Svante Forsbäck (Twilight Ophera, Sotajumala, Soulfly, Rammstein, Terhen etc).

Lyrically, Anthems Of Annihilation deals with the stupidity of mankind, seen from a vision of megalomania that leads to slavery. Humans against machines, a prophecy of self-destruction. Interesting. Inspirational.

Interesting and inspirational goes for the musical approach too. Forty minutes of intense, varying and extremely obscure Death / Black Metal with elements from Thrash, lots of changes in tempo and structure, and the most sinister, warlike, oppressing atmosphere in years.
The unique angle is, without any doubt, a constructive surplus. It has to do with the combination of both organic and industrial(ised) elements, the use of spherical keyboards as well as ultra-blasting eruptions, and the most brutal vocals (grunts and screams). Floating intermezzos, thrashing guitar solos, deadly explosions, samples, abyssal grimness, sweet melodies versus chaotic assaults, the skull-smashing sound / production, this album has it all. And ‘having it all’ does not necessarily equal quality, yet in this album’s case: divine!

[Additional note I: even though this album can’t be compared, at least musically, with Polish super-band Vesania, you can easily consider both bands same-spirited formations because of the intensity and variety both bands expose. And since I’m a huge ‘fan’ of Vesania…]

[Additional note II: Ex Deo, Nile, Zyklon and (early) Dagorlad too come to mind – not bad, is it?!]

[Additional note III: in case of a 2010’s ‘year list’, Anthems Of Annihilation will appear on top of it…]

95/100

Ivan Tibos.