Imperium – Ex Mortis Gloria – Album Review

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Hey Imperium (or Imperivum as it’s often written), what’s with making us wait a bum-numbing 6 years for a follow-up to 2016’s Titanomachy, eh?! Why are we so peeved you may ask. Easy! Titanomachy was an absolute colossus of an album and we genuinely flipped our collective lids over its numerous, yet barbarically portrayed, charms.

Still, good thongs come to those who wait and finally we have follow-up album, Ex Mortis Gloria to savour….and savour it we most certainly have. While the Nile comparisons remain apt (Dallas Toler-Wade pops up on “Burning Crucifixions in the Garden of Nero, so, hey, if the shoe fits ), Imperium are so much more than mere plagiarists. This is progressive / technical death metal played by seasoned professionals whose commitment to crafting often overwhelmingly oppressive songs is balanced by an ornate sense of time, space and the service of a good fuckin’ tune.

That being said, this shit is dense and an easy listen, Ex Mortis Gloria most certainly ain’t! What it is, is another concept album – this time Imperium set their sights on the Roman Empire – that ably smashes its way through its themes with precision, power and upmost conviction.

“Echoes Of Slain Kings” reeks of Behemoth circa Evangelion and Imperium are so adept at harnessing the sounds of the apocalypse that they sure as shit give Nergal and the boys a run for their money. In fact, it’s the sense of size and scope here that impresses the most. Imperium think BIG – you don’t get much bigger than the Roman Empire after all – and they don’t skip a beat when it comes to amassing a collection of suitably epic tracks.

You could quite easily picture Caligula spinning this filth at one of his debauched-filled orgies of sex and violence, such is the extravagance and grandeur of this latest undertaking.

“Under Shadows Of Giants” simply crushes, as if the full weight of a burning empire is raining down on your perilously exposed skull, with any attempt to flee rendered useless by the sheer goddamn heaviness of all that is descending from the skies above. We’ve just read that sentence back and accusations of pomposity could be levelled at the sentiment….but there really is no better way to describe the heft of Imperium‘s often portentous sound. Fits the concept too, right!

Is Ex Mortis Gloria better than Titanomachy? It’s too soon to tell and our undying love for Imperium‘s previous album is so strong that we need to ditch our blinkered view and embrace the new. A few more spins of this beast should do it.

All you really need to know is that Ex Mortis Gloria is a turbulent blast of exquisitely performed technical death metal. WE expected nothing less! 8/10

Imperium‘s Ex Mortis Gloria was released on September 2nd, 2022 via Ultimate Massacre Productions – head over to bandcamp and grab yourselves a copy!