Warlust - Sol Invictvs in Vmbrae Satanae

Angry Metal Guy

Written By: Nameless_N00b_85

Germany’s Warlust promises a sonic Venn diagram of blackened death/thrash with a grand, epic feel. Toiling away in the underground for a decade, Sol Invictvs in Vmbrae Satanae is their third outing, and to hear their label tell it, they’ve leveled up. The promo attached waxed eloquent about “assaults on the false” and music with “genuine evil blood coursing through its veins.” References to Necrophobic and Dissection, on top of the assurance that the album sounds “HUGE” [sic] tantalizes and entices. Add on descriptions of “Maximum evil, muscular chops,” (they really emphasized the “evil” bit,) and “the blackest of atmosphere” and this n00b couldn’t slam play fast enough. What awaits inside isn’t the hellfire promised but is an enjoyable journey all the same.

Warlust demonstrates a keen sense of song arrangement, and this works their formula to their advantage. Drummer Warmachine is the star of the album, using the guitar’s every repeated melody to vary up his style from expected blackened blasts into cymbal heavy beats into octopus-limbed flourishes ensuring that repetitions never sap the song of momentum. Guitarists/Vocalists Aeon and Necromancer rely on a barrage of trem-picked melodies, repeating enough times for Warmachine to show his chops before deftly switching into a chug-heavy attack or chunky groove. They throw plenty of tricks at the listener, ranging from harmonized solos, (“Serpent Crown”), waltz-time signatures (“Legio! Aeternal! Vitrix!” and “Forgotten Cult of Chronos”) and even bass solos (“The Followless”). Each new riff, clean interlude, and solo is masterfully positioned to flow into each other while contrasting with what came before, passages cascading into one another without ever blending into an opaque mess of sound.

An affinity for dynamics and flare riddle Sol Invictvs in Vmbrae Satanae. In fact, Warlusts determination to constantly keep things fresh ends up impeding the full product from excellence. While there are no riffs or moments here that are individually poor, occasionally it seems Warlust start to vibe to their own material too much and overstep the mark in trying to grab that “epic” feel. A mood-setting interlude comes unexpectedly after a meager two “real songs”, which then flows into a song with its own slow buildup (“…Of Gallows and Absurdity”), rendering its presence superfluous. While deft at making sure they keep things moving enough that no riff ever truly collapses into monotony, some tighter editing would help to make sure each moment contained more punch. “Serpent’s Crown” is the worst offender here, beginning with a hook that drags well past its expiration date, only to be returned to for chorus purposes. Luckily, the songwriting gets stronger as the album progresses, and while the instinct to ride a lead one too many times never goes away, it never grows into banality.

Reservations aside, Warlust has a winning formula here. Sol Invictvs in Vmbrae Satanae does indeed sound “huge,” with a mix that serves all instruments without sounding blatantly brickwalled. It has the most present bass I’ve heard in some time, adding sinister rumblings to the albums more dynamic passages, and aiding in its own build to hype during the occasional slowdown. Special attention should be paid to closing track “Black Souls,” as the strongest song on the album. Here is where Warlust unfurls black wings in all their glory, presenting the perfect arrangement of “grand finale”: methodical, deliberate buildup, masterful transitions across motifs, and a final solo that takes up no less than three separate phrases, each building upon the last before collapsing into the albums only moment of genuine shredding virtuosity. If we had an entire album of this quality, I would be tossing caution to the wind and declaring we had an end-of-year list contender on our hands, n00b status be damned. As it is, it confirms the enjoyable recipe the band have concocted and ends on a supreme note of triumph.

In the end, Sol Invictvs in Vmbrae Satanae is a melodic pummeling, with a grand vision, with small stumbles in execution. It isn’t the soundtrack of unrelenting evil, nor is it the blackest album you’re likely to hear as recently as this week. What it is instead is a thunderous, melancholy adventure, rich in stylistic variety and compositional excellence, held back only by album sequencing issues and an overreliance on repetition of motifs. Trimming lengthier passages and tightening the songcraft to the quality of the album’s most excellent moments will ensure that Warlust is ready to storm lists soon enough, and I’ll certainly be looking out for their fourth outing.



Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: mp3
Label: Dying Victims Productions
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: September 27th, 2024

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