The members of VLTIMAS are all legends in their own right. David Vincent blessed the sick for Morbid Angel. Rune Eriksen made grand declarations of war as Mayhem’s blasphemous axe man. No one is more vile than Flo Mounier, who’s been drumming for Cryptopsy since their earliest exhumations of the underground. But on their second album together, they’re mightier than ever.
EPIC comes out this Friday, March 15. But you can listen to the whole album today on Season of Mist’s YouTube channel.
VLTIMAS have so much history under their bullet belts that some gatekeepers may have wondered if there were any new realms for them to conquer. After all, their first album was voted album of the year by BangerTV.
And yet – their new album boldy declares that these devils aren’t content with merely living among the lords of chaos. Though written amongst the many comforts of Vincent’s Texas ranch (long walks, plenty of booze) EPIC is dark, extreme and unrelenting. Everyone gets to flex their muscles. Rune rips off fiery riffs from all angles on blistering lead single “Miserere”. Though it starts off as a slow burn, Flo blazes through “Scorcher” with blast beats that are so wickedly precise they belong in a museum. David’s growl could still summon underground hordes to the alter of madness, but “Invictus” rolls out a new style of death metal vocals.
“I’ll not be blinded and I’ll never be for sale,” he sings like a grizzled battle cry.
But EPIC amounts to a heck of a lot more than just the sum of VLTIMAS’ devilish talents. It’s a testament to everything they’ve stood for the past 30 years: crushing speed, surgical precession, strength in one’s own convictions.
