Romulus

With historical themes being so common in so many metal bands lyrics, stemming all the way back from the likes of Mercyful Fate's Curse Of The Pharaohs all the way up to Hail Of Bullet's recent concept album looking at the WW II Eastern Front, it's surprising that it's taken so long for a band like Ex Deo to show up. The band are lyrically concerned entirely with the great and gory history of the Roman Empire, and despite hailing from Canada they manage to sound surprisingly authentic and non-gimmicky, despite somewhat silly promotional photos. The band have received a considerable push with their debut Romulus, having signed to Nuclear Blast records and having roped in such high profile guests as fellow history buffs Nile's Karl Sanders and Behemoth frontman Nergal. There's a very good reason for this, as the band are none other than the members of leading Canadian death metallers Kataklysm. What is very surprising about Romulus, however, is that it's a considerably stronger effort than the band's last proper effort in their day jobs. The constant chugging of the mediocre Prevail has been replaced by a far more stately, epic sound, Blackguard keyboardist Jonathan Leduc supplying the band with symphonic lines that add a rather nice extra touch of melody. Maurizio Iacono (apparently the driving force behind Ex Deo) turns in a suitably imperial vocal performance, genuinely sounding like he's leading his legions into battle. His commanding roar has enough gravitas that I can ignore the occasionally wobbly lyrics. Although it's not as cliché-ridden as say, Alestorm, the lyrics can feel a little vague. Although it'd be too much of me to demand a history lesson from the band, it would be nice to have a bit more than a few obligatory references to Rome and Caesar. It's a shame, as when Iacono does refer to specific historical events, he seems to know his stuff, especially on The Final War (Battle Of Actium). The album mostly seems to deal with the exploits of Julius Caesar and his nephew Augustus, taking in such historical battles as the Siege Of Alesia and the crushing of Mark Antony at Actium. Being a death metal album, of course, much of it is incomprehensible lyrically, despite Iacono being one of the more understandable vocalists in his field. As weird as it sounds, perhaps a narrator would be appropriate here, as the album certainly has enough grandeur to not make it seem out of place. Indeed, the spoken samples on Storm The Gates Of Alesia are certainly a nice touch. Despite the general stately nature of it all, Romulus never neglects its heaviness, with the likes of Invictus throwing galloping thrash riffs at you. There's also a nice melodic touch to the riffs largely absent from Katalysm's last one, The Final War having an oddly folky touch to it. Ex Deo also have a nice line in fist-pounding choruses, and I'd hope you find yourself bellowing along at times. The album may be perhaps too long (everything sounds fairly similar, albeit well-written, and an hour is probably far too much without a change of pace), but still manages to be pretty engaging throughout if you're in the right mood. Romulus will probably be skipped over as a footnote in the Katalysm history, Ex Deo viewed as merely an experiment. And that'd be a great shame as it sounds more alive than anything the band have done in a while in their guises as Katalysm. Let's hope Romulus gets the respect it deserves, rather than simply being banished to history.