Orcivus: Est Deus in Nobis (2010) Review

I discovered Orcivus's Est Deus in Nobis by way of a review in the March issue of Terrorizer (my first ever metal magazine). After listening to a song on Youtube, I decided to pick it up.

As you might expect, they sound a lot like fellow Swedish black metallers Watain.

Each track has both faster, more traditional black metal sections, as well as slower-paced atmospheric sections. The riffs are well-written and interesting, and the track order was wisely done, starting off strong, getting better in the middle, and winding down toward the end. The strongest tracks are "Towards Ether", "Storming Blasphemy", and "Sword of Demise" (tracks 4, 5, and 6).

There are a few problems with Est Deus in Nobis. First, the guitar solos aren't particularly great. The songs also don't have as many subtleties as you would find in Watain material. Finally, every song follows the same pattern, and none of them really stands out as anything special. There isn't a weak track on the album, but nothing is going to blow you away either. The album would have been a lot better if they had fixed one of these issues.



The Verdict: The riffs are well-written, and the tempo changes manage to make individual tracks interesting. All of the tracks are good, but none of them are great. With all of the interesting things going on in the world of black metal these days, nothing makes it stand out, despite its overall quality. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.