Posted on: October 6, 2011 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

From the beginning of “Mozartia”, there are two distinct strains of music that Sacriversum creates. There is a very melodic type of black metal that is dominant, and there is a classical type of music (along the style of whom the album was named) that struggles for dominance. The styles clash messily during the opening bars of “Born To Be The Best”, but Sacriversum quickly rights their ship. The inclusion of a female set of vocals plays more to a goth side of things, but more along the late nineties era of the genre rather than anything newer. The problem that is immediate about Sacriversum is that the guitars during “Born To Be The Best” are distorted in an unchanging way.

This has the effect of deadening what would normally be an impressive solo and making the track middling instead of impressive. When there is a track that Sacriversum allows their darker side to show (at least in part, during a song like “Painful Fame”), the results are slightly stronger. The female vocals that take over in the slightly lighter side of their music is not any less intense, but recenters Sacriversum’s sound considerably from what would be a death metal band otherwise. Each track on “Mozartia” is its own little symphony, as the band can do more in six minutes than most bands can do in the entirety of an EP. “Young Traveller” is another track that is absolutely brutal with the guitar and drum dynamic, but gradually becomes lighter when the melodic singer comes in.

By the time the disc is half over, an individual will be able to tell exactly when the track becomes lighter and more melodic. I wish that there were more in the way of tracks on “Mozartia” that just were the band playing the hardest, most brutal music they could possibly play. I have little doubt that they would come up with some sick compositions, but listeners are not indulged at all in that way during the disc. What happens most often is that this blended approach to music dominates and does not let the band properly shine. If the band would be able to stick with one sound throughout the entirety of the disc, what Sacriversum could do would be far beyond any other band in the same situation. Maybe for their next album we can hear some of that amazing metal that Sacriversum is capable of.

Top Tracks: Stanzer 1, Salieri

Rating: 4.0/10

Sacriversum – Mozartia / 2003 Metal Mind / 9 Tracks / http://www.sacriversum.prv.pl / http://www.metaopolis.pl / Reviewed 21 October 2006

[JMcQ]

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