• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Ex Deo's debut Romulus was a surprise back in 2009. It came out of nowhere and proved a big hit with a slightly symphonic approach to its Death Metal. This band is a side project of Kataklysm's vocalist Maurizio Iacono, and is essentially Kataklysm plus a keyboard player. That is literally the only difference between the lineups.

This is a step up from Romulus in the tight cohesion of the songwriting and the well-placed symphonic elements, if a bit of a throttling back on speed and heaviness. This is less frenetic than the last album, substituting epic scope and more memorable songs for aggression - up to you if that is a plus or a minus. I happen to think this is a really solid balance between two poles that are essentially incompatible. Iacono sticks largely to his lower pitched vocals, which is a big plus right there, as his screeches suck and always have. Simply put - if you liked their last one, then you will like this. Since recent Kataklysm works have been increasingly uninteresting, it's nice to have Ex Deo as a reasonable replacement.