In a sea of countless black metal acts, it’s important for your band to stand out from the crowd and have an extra edge in order to get noticed, and a band that’s doing just that is Echelon. Their debut album Vivito! Creato! Moritor! is unmistakably black metal, but there’s an extra bit of melody thrown into the mix and it really works well.
I always say that an introduction can make or break an album, so for Vivito! Creato! Moritor! to have such a strong and unique introduction is testament as to how good this release is. It blends acoustic music and full-band music perfectly with spoken vocals over the top to round it all off, and it builds atmosphere, easing the listener in before properly bringing the noise with the second track Der Baum der Gehängten. Something good about the album is that this is a repeating theme – similar tracks Desastres de la Guerra, Effet de neige à Petit-Montrouge and closer Triptychon: Der Krieg use the same sort of format and it really divides the album up well, which is good with a release of this length (there are thirteen tracks!).
Strappado is another great track. The guitar-line at the one minute mark is awesome and you can really feel the passion behind the vocals on this one with the slightly forceful delivery of them, but the best track of the album has to be Der Krieg in mir. It starts strongly, with gripping guitars and half-chanted vocals and just doesn’t let up the pace throughout. The melodic vocals also work well, complementing the harsh vocals well and it just makes for a highly memorable song as a result.
This is only Echelon’s debut album, but it already has the potential to make the band go far. Admittedly it is a little on the lengthy side but like mentioned earlier, the melodic/spoken dividing tracks work well at putting the album into sections, so this isn’t a real problem when it comes to listening to the album as a whole. A great and engaging listen.
8/10
