Defiant Imagination

Sometimes there's an album that's a final message and turns out to be a band's best release. With Canadian technical death metal outfit Quo Vadis, this is pretty much the case with Defiant Imagination. Among the numerous death metal albums released in the early 2000s, Defiant Imagination stands out by containing nine tracks of varying time lengths and tempos.

For example, "Silence Calls the Storm" opens Defiant Imagination and is a fast tempo number with progressive tendencies. It displays an example of the album's neoclassical lead work that became trendy during this time period. "Break the Cycle"'s lyrics have a positive message that tells the listener to "never give up and trust your instincts", along with some technical guitar soloing mid-song. "To the Bitter End" is an example of a song where the numerous uncommon time signatures can be noticed on Defiant Imagination. The instrument patterns noticeably change with every two or three seconds. "Articulo Mortis" is also a standout for having a beautiful choir and some dramatic cello work. The song leads into "Fate's Descent" which could be summed up as if Necrophagist was covering Dark Tranquillity.

Speaking of Dark Tranquillity, Stéphane Paré's death growls on Defiant Imagination are like if Mikael Stanne did old-school death metal. The guitar work is very strong on Defiant Imagination as the guitar solos displayed on songs like "In Contempt" and "Tunnel Effect" are full of energy and spirit. The leads are also progressive and are played by neoclassical guitarists. Yanic Bercier's blast beats are notably layered over his double bass drumming, giving it more of a deathgrind kind-of-feel. More or less, Bercier's drum beats are carefully placed in the right locations within each song. So why am I giving this a perfect score? I'm adding bonus points for Steve DiGiorgio's bass playing which is very jazzy and is noticeable on tracks like "Dead Man's Diary" and "Break the Cycle".

As jazzy and classically influenced as it gets Defiant Imagination is an excellent closing statement for Quo Vadis and helped pave the way for more technical death metal bands that play neoclassical guitar. Defiant Imagination contains music that's well orchestrated, that even some cello-based bands like Apocalyptica struggle with understanding the beauty behind it. This is music that challenges the listener with complex time signatures and some of the best guitar work that death metal has to offer. Defiant Imagination is an album that transcends the boundaries of both technical and melodic death metal and therefore is one of the best death metal albums of its decade. Don't miss out on this excellent Montreal death metal album.

Defiant Imagination is the third album of the Canadian Quo Vadis, and arrived with some very high expectations, as their sophomore effort had created a stir among the modern metal sect. A Canadian melodic death metal band worth its salt? Impossible! The story of this album is quite interesting, as the drums were recorded first and then the guitars and harmonies re-written to run consistently above them. You can kind of hear it, too. The drums are intense and heavy, with many thundering double bass rolls and a nigh constant barrage of aggression. Unfortunately, the rhythm guitars here are for the most using the stock Swedish sensibility for melodic predictability, with some later Death-like progressive flourishes mixed in, and the only times the album really grows more interesting is where the band diverts away from this meandering miasma of dulled down inspiration.

Although I would disagree with the popular notion that Defiant Imagination is the band's best album (listening back, I'd have to argue that their peak was Day Into Night), there is one draw to the album that you did not hear on the predecessor: Steve DiGiorgio. In the years leading up to this effort, several of the band's core members had departed, including original bassist Remy Beauchamp (who was a talent in his own right), so Bart and Yanic hired on DiGiorgio for the recordings. Now, I've never been extremely impressed with DiGiorgio's talent as a songwriter, but as a bass-merc on a progressive/melodic death metal album, he excels, and his adventurous, fluid performance is perhaps the one thing here that keeps the ship from sinking below average. The new vocalist Stéphane Paré is decent, but not much to get excited over. He reminds me of Mikael Stanne (in fact, this entire album reminds me of a more technical, extreme alternative to Dark Tranquillity), albeit less powerful, with a stock, monotonous grunt that lacks much in the way of emotion, even when backed up by the occasional gang shout. I think I honestly preferred the more Carcass-like tones of his predecessor, but this has never been a band to excel in the vocal department.

If Defiant Imagination had been released today, it would probably be considered another in a long list of forgettable melodeath records with generic (if busier than usual) mosh breakdowns. But at the time of its inception it was still slightly more progressive than average, and I should note that, aside from a few of the lyrics, there is nothing quite so pedestrian about the effort that went into this. Writing around drums is an interesting prospect, and the bass is a marvel, but I find it pretty telling that the two tracks to stand out here were the operatic interludes "In Articulo Mortis" and "Ego Intuo et Servo te", which demonstrate that the band has not fully shaken the classical influence and gothic experimentation of their debut Forever... from their systems, but at the same time, the male and female vocal performances are very good in these two, short pieces. As for the rest, they dance along like sprites celebrating in a Swedish glen, invisible or uninteresting to my mere mortal perceptions, the baubles of bass being the one distraction to perk my ears and tilt my head.

"Silence Calls the Storm" and "In Contempt" explode past in a cloud of boring guitar riffs, with little but the bass and concrete drumming to enthrall. It's not until "Break the Cycle" that the band tries something more interesting, a slower, dynamic track with great bass cycles and a subtle touch of prog and funk that captivates at least for a few brief seconds. Sadly, the lyrics here are dragged down by a pastiche of cliches and forgettable 'inner struggle' lines like 'Open your eyes, open your mind', 'life goes on', and 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'. Well meaning, positive and inspirational, but very distracting when they're being barked at you in an accented growl. The kind of lyrics you'd essentially expect from most other North American metalcore/melodeath bands more passionate about the product and placement than any lasting imagery they could summon. "Tunnel Effect" is much like the first two tracks on the album, almost impossible to remember even seconds after its conclusion. Of the rest, "To the Bitter End" and "Dead Man's Diary" at least offer some melancholy and precision melody, though nothing that would warrant an immediate re-listen.

There are certain components of Defiant Imagination which destroy the utter sum of its emotional resonance, so some credit should be given for its unusual manifestation and the slow process by which it was assembled. The bass and drums are prim and polished, perhaps too much for my own tastes, but there is no denying that this rhythm section put in an enormous effort. Where the album becomes lackluster is in the dressings. The guitars, while proficient and often diving into the technical precision of the prior album, are simply not that invigorating. The vocal performance, while not 'weak', is sodden and average, the type you could have phoned in by any more established growler on a binge. The two opera segues are well done, but they account for only 2 minutes of the 40 here. The rest of the tracks become more interesting the further they venture away from the rather humdrum, melodic death core. This simply doesn't occur with enough frequency, and even when it does, the results are only mildly curious.

Highlights: Break the Cycle, In Articulo Mortis, Dead Man's Diary

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Quo Vadis is a band I have always loved because of their superiority over other bands in the same genre as it, their effort of constantly pushing the envelope and trying something innovative in a rather un innovative genre. The band’s debut entitled, “Forever” which was released in 1996 showcased the talent the band possessed even in its early days. 4 years later, in the March of 2000 with the release of, “Day Into Night” they gained an immense fan base in Canadian the metal scene but with the release of the band’s third effort, “Defiant Imagination” they have forever left a mark on modern death metal history.

If you have heard that three of the four band members have left the band after this record then I offer my shoulder for you to weep upon but they have gone and done so with a ear splitting bang. The sheer force, aggression, speed and immaculate technicality have made me believe that this is THE best Technical Melodic Death album out there.

The band has undergone a missive change in line-up as well as managed to rope in possibly the greatest bass player in metal alive today, the ever so creative improviser, and technical genius, Steve DiGiorgio. He may well have been the stimulus this band with immense talent needed to reach the highest possible platform of this genre.

Stephane Pare, has replaced the only long standing matter of concern for the band over the years, Are Itman and has delivered ridiculously and appallingly well. The guy has improved in leaps and bounds and finally achieved what he has trying to do so unimaginably hard for the majority of the last decade and his effort have paid off. He has developed this emotional, yet sinister and extremely mature vocal style full of extremely throaty vocals. Not only that there is the occasional clean vocal section, or the yell, he has mastered them all. The 17 second long growl in the beginning of the first track, which never loses its intensity during the entirety is such that can put the likes of the famous Tom Araya scream in “Angel Of Death” or Bruce Dickinson’s scream in “The Number Of The Beast” to utmost shame.

Steve’s performance on the bass is unsurprisingly killer. The man has always delivered whether he has worked for death metal greats like Autopsy or Death, or even in his technical thrash project Sadus. His immense experience and knowledge in metal has rubbed off on the band members and has killer bass antics aren’t missed here. Strings of bass riffs and solos can be found under the actual riffs. Making the bass sound at times mellow or making the bass that fast to keep up with the shredding done by Bart Frydrychowicz, the man succeeds in all.

Yanic Bercier just manages to up the ante every single time he appears on the album. If on thought his work on the cymbals and snares was great last time around, this time his increase in power, sheer speed and immaculate perfection in technicality is worth mentioning. He has along with these added a brilliant vision of exactly what he wants and the ability to play at different speeds and time signatures on the upper and lower halves on the drums. It’s no surprise he won an award for “Best Performance of Drums” for this album.

The album starts off with a bang with the album opener, “Silence Calls The Storm”. A relentless attack on the snares doubled only the technical fast as well as efficient work on the double bass followed by that powerful growl I just mentioned. The song has a small, mellow section too and the bass work during that time deserved special mention. “In Contempt”, “Break The Cycle” and “Tunnel Effect” follow. Each of these tracks maintains the flow and is super fast and technical. The song writing has improved yet furthermore with this release. The switch between mid-tempo, mellow and extremely fast sections though highly technical and yet maintaining the flow speaks volumes of the musicianship of the band. Jazz influenced song structures keeps a firm grip on the listener and he keeps him on the edge of the seat not knowing what to expect next.

What follows this is my personal favorite off of this release. To The Bitter End. Words cannot describe this track. It starts off with Yanic attacking the double bass and the snares, both in different speeds and time signatures and is backed by the bass of Steve. The guitars soon follow matching up to the now crazy speed of the drums. The vocal delivery is perfect and right at point. A couple of breakdowns and an extremely melodic guitar solo, actually 2 for that matter comprise this track. A masterpiece in itself, and basking in the showcase of brilliant musicianship and song writing prowess of the band, the band has once again pushed the envelope in the genre. Tracks like the technical “Fate’s Descent” and the most down beta and melodic track “Dead Man’s Diary” keep to the strong flow of the band.

The band’s love for classical music is once again shown in the tracks, “In Articulo Mortis” and “Ego Intuo Et Servo Te”. The band arranged for a full choir soprano singers for the first of these two tracks and a bunch of violin players added to the majesty of a sadly short track. “Ego Intuo Et Servo Te” on the other hand is a sad and depressing track created with the help of instruments like the little heard of shamisen. This track is a tribute to the ancient classical music of countries like Japan.

One thing that I noticed is that when bands usually add a track or two in the album which are very short id duration, they usually act as worthless intros to the track that immediately follows just to increase the number of tracks on the album. 2 tracks of very short length, the classical ones I mentioned in the above paragraph, though very short length act are tracks in their own and even though “In Articulo Mortis” acts like an intro to “Fate’s Descent” it can be considered a track in its own and not just an intro of a track separated from the rest of it.

The band has always provided us with excellent lyrics and they have improved over time. Lyrically the release is great and I would present to you an excerpt from To The Bitter End.

“Why should I
pay the price for your mistakes?
For transgressions
not remotely mine
Loyalty of blood
condemns me with your sins
Paying with my life
Silent I remain
Empty walls cry out my name.

Burn, ignited by my will
Slowly consumed from within
amongst the damned
you will descend
you should be the one paying the price”

It’s sad that the moment the band, reached its peak and achieved its winning combination more than half of the band had to leave it because of differences that could not be patched up. Call it co-incidental, but the last track the band made was a slow mournful one, “Ego Intuo Et Servo Te”.

“Fate,
Will make,
You pay.”

Isn’t this is exactly what happened. (?).

Upon first listen of Defiant Imagination, it was a mix of something in between changing my boxers and finding my jaw on the ground. This was my first introduction to Quo Vadis, in search for more melodic death metal and being a bit skeptical on the whole “technical” thing at the time I still decided to give them a chance considering this is supposed to be a godly album. Well let’s say I’m super fucking happy I found this album. Holy fucking Saruman this is a powerful album in every sense of the word powerful. This is probably the best technical death metal album out there tied with Arsis’s Celebration of Guilt; I was not fond of the whole technical thing at the time not being the hugest Necrophagist fan but Arsis and Quo Vadis opened my eyes and now I’m totally in love; well at least with these two albums – still not the hugest fan of technical death metal but those two are absolute exceptions.

Defiant Imagination starts off with Silence Calls the Storm and just when I thought Amon Amarth’s synchronized headbanging or Dio’s Rainbow in the Dark was the most metal thing out there, I hear the opening to this song and the killer drum and guitar riff I was hooked and then Stephane Pare’s growl came on he split the air in two with his fucking AWESOME blood curdling growl that is held for 17 seconds! At the time a couple years ago I’d never heard anyone hold a note for 17 teabagging seconds and not have their fucking jugular evaporate or their eye balls pulverized from the pressure. Obviously now while it seems not so impressive I still hold that to be one of the coolest metal moments ever; anyway the song continues off in a fucking awesome fashion featuring hyper fast double bass and riffs that are so hard not to headbang along with, it’s probably harder to try and not headbang along than it is having sex with Carmen Electra I swear. The song blazes by at full speed and slows down a bit for some intriguing and equally awesome slow lead guitar parts then picks back up right at the end to hear Pare yell “SILENCE CALLS THE STORM!”

Such a badass song, I thought nothing could top that song, In Contempt, Break the Cycle and Tunnel Effect follow next easily featuring some of the most spectacular musicianship I’ve heard in a while but still not as good as the mighty Silence Calls the Storm. Both songs are uber fast technical melodic death metal powerhouses featuring once again hyper fast guitar riffs, some of the flashiest and wank filled (yet addictively awesome) solos and double bass that blows your mind. Defiant Imagination continues to flow along perfect, starting off with a killer track and followed by three just as entertaining and fun tracks. Then it hits you, To The Bitter End starts off right from the fucking first second hyper fast technical death metal fused with an awesome sense of melody hits your face and hears like a brick and compels you to violently headbang or mosh by yourself or whatever. To The Bitter End is a 7 minute long song that literally doesn’t relent the ENTIRE FUCKING TIME. It starts very strong and leads you into technical death metal heaven/hell then finishes off just as strong; right at 5:40 if you don’t headbang Dio will slap you. Straight off you a continuing formula of hyper fast technical death metal with once again more hyper fast guitar riffs and solos and just as fast drumming (I swear this guy has 4 legs).

So as you might have noticed I’ve mentioned several times how fast the instruments are and I don’t know if you’ve heard this or not, assuming not since you’re reading this, and well… these are some of the fastest AND technical at the same time, drum patterns including double bass, guitar riffs and bass lines I’ve heard in my entire 5 and half years of listening to metal. I mean obviously it’s not as fast as some bands out there but it’s pretty fucking fast, and that’s just how I like it; the double bass blows my mind (Jesus tapdancing Christ check out Dead Man's Diary at about 4 minutes!) and the guitar solos are full of wank and technical nonsense that is purely loveable as well as the bass. I haven’t heard such a powerful bassist in a while, in each song he has a fill or a solo that reminds me of how powerful some bassist can be and how kick ass it can be. Oh yeah, its Steve DiGiorgio, what else should you expect? Stephane Pare is quite a competent vocalist as well, with like I mentioned earlier has some purely jaw-dropping moments and killer passages, as well as being a great lyricist (I think he’s the main lyricist I’m not positive so don’t hold it on me).

So, enough with the raving fanboyism, as you noticed this isn’t a perfect album but pretty damn close. Quo Vadis have crafted the technical death metal sound perfectly and having the perfect fusion of melody something that Arsis has done as well but something Necrophagist has failed to do or wants to do. Despite all of this I will admit while it’s still fucking awesome how all the songs are similar but still equally can get old due to lack of variety within the structuring of the songs. It’s basically a relentless attack of technical melodic death metal that doesn’t often vary itself. Other than the two interlude pieces that are instrumental and well orchestrated, it can still get a bit old after a bit. Other than this, everything on here is exquisite; the musicianship, the songs are so very catchy, and the perfect blend of technical and melodic death metal. After all the time I’ve heard this I’ve only every picked up one other record which is still fun but nothing compares to Defiant Imagination in the technical death metal world other and for that it is highly recommended for those fans or technical death metal, death metal in general, fans of Arsis, and fans of awesome fucking metal.

Living up to the album title, Quo Vadis deliver another exhibition of imaginative, convention-defying technical death metal with their 2004 release. Every instrument is played with astonishing technical prowess, and the songs feature complex architectures that constantly challenge the listener to keep pace with the intricately interwoven melodic lines.

The rhythm guitar tracks are skillful and artistic, with lots of precision pick work. Now and then smooth legato runs on the lower strings are mixed in with the riffs, giving Frydrychowicz' rhythm tracks a trademark sound. The lead guitar work is stellar and laces the album with memorable melodies. The bass line, contributed by Steve Digiorgio, features frequent excursions to the upper registers, where it joins the melodic interplay as a virtual third guitar. The drum track is tremendous as well, not too loud in the mix but precise and full of variety.

The album features seven substantial tracks. Additionally, two short pieces, "In Articulo Mortis" and "Ego Entuo et Servo Te", a short interlude and outro, respectively, furnish the album with a wistful ambience, using strings and operatic vocals. The opening track, "Silence Calls the Storm", showcases all the band's best talents, leading the audience thorugh a labyrinth of catchy melodies and perverse accentuations. "Dead Man's Diary" is another standout track, with a slower paced progression and therefore perhaps the album's most accessible song. I'm not a fan of the discordant shouting vocals layered over the chorus of "Tunnel Effect". But without question this album is as a whole an evocative work of art; and as such each listener is apt to discover elements that suit, and challenge, his or her own tastes.

I live in Montreal, and for many people here Quo Vadis is the hometown-favourite band. This means that I have been witness to tons of controversy over the band splitting in half before recording this record. I’ve heard everything and anything from “Bart is an arrogant control freak”, to “Arie is an arrogant control freak”, to “it’s the best move they ever made”, to “Bart and Yanic had no right to keep the name”. What I say to anyone and everyone gossiping over Quo Vadis is: shut up. Listen to Defiant Imagination. All the time you spend gabbing is time that you’re not hearing quality heavy metal.

The record kicks off with solid proof that despite their frontman leaving, Quo Vadis found a more than capable replacement in Stéphane Parré. In my opinion his vocals outshine those of Arie on the two previous records. He has great stamina and tone, although a little variance in pitch would be appreciated for the next release.

Bass duties were tackled for Defiant by the one and only Steve DiGorgio. What an awesome spot of luck to have attracted his interest! Steve must have been happy as well, as the guys seem to have given him a freedom I had not heard him get outside of Sadus since Death’s Individual Thought Patterns. Luckily, Forest of Augury, one of the best and most unknown bass players in metal today, steps in live to tackle the four-string fretless insanity without breaking a sweat.

The guitars are of course the main drive of these songs. Beautiful melodies, flawless solos (pulled off tightly live as seen on their DVD Defiant Indoctrination) and classic deathy tech riffs. There is also a new jazziness in the guitars which takes the Quo Vadis sound to the next level beyond the strait Death worship of Day Into Night.

It can’t all be good though, unfortunately. The drums on this record, while being ultra-tight despite the breakneck speeds, are mixed a little too high. The same thing always happens with Cryptopsy records; the bands get lots of attention because of their drummers and just burden down the mixes with percussion to keep riding that hype. I would also suggest to Yanic that he chill out a little with the kick drums. Slow parts sometimes require, you guessed it, slow kicks! In many places Mr. Bercier is doing four hits for every one that is actually necessary.

The length of this album is also un-satisfactory. It is in the end what brings the score below a 90%. Perhaps when Arie quit at the last minute he left with songs that were supposed to be on here, but in that case I would have suggested holding off till they had one or two more tracks. With only 9 songs, two of them being non-metal interludes, the album is simply not long enough. Less than 40 minutes is only acceptable when you are speed/thrash or brutal death, styles which do not lend to extended listens.

I spin this record constantly regardless, and highly recommend Quo Vadis, old or new, to any fan of technical and melodic metal.

A lot better than their fellow countrymen Cryptopsy, and I'm sure that will be debated by many. There hasn't been a disappointing release yet, in my opinion, from the French Canadian Death Metallers known as Quo Vadis. From their debut LP "Forever..." I was completely blown away by these guys. The reason being is, well, I don't particuarly enjoy the "tr00" death metal sound. But Quo Vadis is something special, they have amazing technique, style, professionalism and most importantly an original sound. I will admitt, I was a bit nervous about how this LP would turn out seeing as how the past vocalist split on the band weeks before recording "Defiant Imagination", but the very moment I heard that deep, visceral growl in the opening track.....I kid you not, chills ran down the center of my spine. So at least my vocal worries were over, now lets move to the guitars. I'm not a particular fan of the proverbial "instrumental wankery" as it is often refered to i.e. Children Of Bodom, Dream Theatre etc, but quo vadis has increible riffs and a near orgasmic drive behind their solo's. They don't just solo for the sake of being one of those "hey, look what i can do!!!!" kind of bands, they have tremendous feeling and emotion behind nearly every guitar composition. I don't know much about bass playing in general (aside from the great Les Claypool, yes I KNOW he isn't "Metal" but hes damn good") but the man holds his own on this record giving a nice beefy death metal sound to compliment the guitars. And now, for my FAVOURITE part of this band......THE DRUMMING!!!! Holy titty fucking christ, the drumming!!!! Yanic Bercier has to be one of THE most accomplished drummers in metal today. The man plays lightning quick, and its not just simple routine blast beats. He changes it up constantly, and has a double bass kick that could set off a pacemaker of someone standing near by. I love this band and I love their music. They have enabled me to listen to a lot more heavier acts, although its tough to get heavier than these guys. My suggestion, check out their prior work if you are not familiar with them. And then and only then, throw on Defiant Imagination and get ready for the fucking ride of your life!

After four years, Quo Vadis has finally struck back with a new album. I first heard a leak of it on the internet, a couple days before it was released. With that being said, that night I placed my preorder for it, and within no time, I found it in my mailbox.

So, as soon as you put this thing on, we get some cool intro with single-stroke snare and guitar locking together. As soon as the instruments come together, everything pleases your ear and comes together quite well. As usual, Quo Vadis gives us that fast, crisp double kicking fans have grown to love and expect, as done by Yanic Bercier. Yanic will not disappoint; his cymbal and foot work are fantastic as always.

This disc is really quite diverse. I don't like it as much as their debut "Forever...", but I do like it slightly more than "Day Into Night". This album is just a bit more diverse than "Day Into Night". The first track on here when the piano comes in reminds me exactly of Dark Tranquillity. Not to mention in the same song, it has a beautiful outro which is a nice touch to a great song. Then you get a lot of fast riffing, and a lot faster than that of "Day Into Night".

I think the vocals are kind of weak when compared to Quo Vadis' first album. The vocals on "Forever" were a lot more diverse. Here they basically sound like newer Dark Tranquillity, maybe a bit harsher. Not that it's a bad thing, but it's just not what they used to be. But, as a friend pointed out to me, Steve DiGiorgio's incredible fretless bass makes up for the absence of diverse vocals. A lot of times in death or thrash metal, the bass is generally not interesting. Steve DiGiorgio on the other hand smacks you right upside the head with his blistering fast bass doodling, and goes everywhere on the neck of his bass. Excellent choice of the Quo Vadis guys for picking him up for this album.

Also featured on this album are some neat interludes between songs. Some may view them as filler, but they are so well crafted that they'll keep your interest, and they're not overdone either.

Something I would've liked to see Quo Vadis do is incorporate blast beats into their music, and possibly get that violin back into their music. That's another thing missing on this album when compared to their debut; the violin really made them stand out. Quo Vadis is one of the few technical bands that uses a lot of consonant melody and classical aesthetics in their music; which at first glance when reading would think of them as being a melodic death metal band, but they are much above and beyond that label. But maybe for next time they can do that. They've definitely become a lot more melodic over time, but still stay fast and technical. Which automatically puts them on top of a lot of their competition.

Overall, this disc is really good. I wasn't disappointed, but obviously they are never going to top "Forever". It'll be interesting to watch Quo Vadis evolve over the years, because they are full of talented musicians and writers. Anyone can get into this album right away due to it's melodic nature. Buy it and support the band, it's well worth it.

This band is, first of all, the best technical death metal band ever!

This is Quo Vadis’s first release with their new singer, Stéphane Paré. Having seen them live twice I can honestly say that he has the most energy live that I have ever seen someone have. And the thing I love about this album is how he managed to capture this insane amount of energy and just makes you want to headbang the whole way through this album. For this album they also had Steve DiGiorgio as their bass player.

Now the first song on this realease, Silence Calls the Storm, is by far the best song on the album. It starts off with a killer almost 20second growl (how he does it, I do not know). And this mind blowing intro is just great. Once the vocals kick in, it’s just heandbanging frenzy! They manage to keep drums rolling like thunder and play these technical guitar riffs while still keeping you loving the song.

Another noticeable song on the album is the song In Contempt. This song shows how Quo Vadis can have very fast paced songs with very deep growls and this insane bass sound! This song is solid and you can see their immense talent. Can you honestly tell me that this is not one of the best Death metal drummers you have ever heard?

In this album, like in their previous one, they have two songs that are instrumental, with some lyrics (not much). The song titled In Articulo Mortis is actually a song dedicated to Chuck Schuldiner.

The lyrics are always amazing. Unlike a lot of Death Metal bands, they do not talk about gore and stuff. They decide to talk about topics related to life, death and beliefs. I really enjoy this factor because it makes the music have more meaning.

If you are a fan of the Technical Death/Thrash genre, then this album is what you are looking for. They have amazing vocals, killer guitar solos, gutwrentching bass (from the master Steve) and the best drummer in the Death Metal scene IMO.

I give this album a solid 100 for it being in my top Death Metal albums ever!

I think that if you haven’t heard Quo Vadis before, you may pass over this album, and miss out on a great one. Yes, that’s right, Steve DiGiorgio is on bass for this album, so if you want to hear his talent, you’ll have to give it a listen. He’s as good as ever, giving new life to Quo Vadis’ already awesome sound. I would hate it if Quo Vadis were classified as melodic death, as I hardly see how they fit the genre. What these guys do is quite innovative, as I’ve yet to hear anybody quite like them. Day Into Night was quite an awesome album when it came out, and I had some reservations about this album meeting or exceeding my expectations for this new cd. What I’ll say is that it comes close, but falls short in some small areas. This album is somewhat more aggressive than past efforts of the band, and I don’t know whether it was a change in lineup that caused the change in direction, or whether they’re trying a new sound. What Quo Vadis does best is create a soothing metal. I don’t know how else to describe it. A lot of the guitar work sounds soft, even though it’s coming at you at rapid-fire speed. And by soft, I don’t mean weak sounding, just that it just kind of melts when you hear it. Needless to say that I was a little bit disappointed when they tried to make this album harder, because some of it comes off as a little forced. After listening to the cd several times, some of the riffs feel a little repetitive, almost as if they found a riff that they thought was particularly menacing and decided to include it in various forms throughout the cd. I can see where listeners would compare these guys to the likes of Death, especially in part to the amazing fretwork of Bart Frydrychowicz and the other guy that I’m not too familiar with. Combined with DiGiorgio, and some intricate drumming (very well done), I’d have to say that this album is still leagues above any of the melodic death crowd. The vox is mostly death metal, and the band jumps from their trademark evisceration of several layers of fretwork throughout most of the songs. Hopefully your head will be banging. The major difference between this album and previous ones is that I can’t really name any standout tracks. They’re all fairly good, but none of them compare in catchiness or remembrance to the stuff off of Day Into Night. If you want an earful of technical death, you should get your hands on this cd, and other Quo Vadis material.

As you may know, I am a huge fan of Steve Digiorgio’s bass-playing, which is really the main reason I picked this album up. This album seems to be praised as the new coming of Christ in “melodic” death metal, having people comparing it to Death and other technical bands. Well, Death this is not, because the songs of Death had way more focus and struc-ture to it than these. I have a decent amount of annoyances with this album, which makes the rating drop at least 10 points unfortunately. This could have been a great album though, and the band is beyond skilled for this kind of music.

First I’d like to state that although I love Steve Digiorgio, this album really sounds like Steve playing over some background music by Quo Vadis most of the time. He is as prevalent as on the last two Vintersorg albums, but in this case, he is given even more freedom in fills and supporting bass on softer interludes. Not to say that the other instru-ments aren’t audible, but it seems he has been given a little too much freedom. Yes, I be-lieve in the melodic capabilities of bass, and support bassists fully on this, but it still has to support the music in general.

That aside, let’s look at the music. The album starts out kind of unexpected. I expected it to go into technical riffing immediately, but the first riff seems a more straightforward staccato riff. This is not bad by definition, and my expectations are deceiving me on this. Technical riffs are aplenty in the first song and on, and I really enjoy the variety of riffs, and the often demanding drumming supporting it. There seems to be a clear Gothenburg tinge to the music, from the vocals to the accelerated thrash beat slightly overused in a lot of the songs, but it doesn’t bother me so much, as it is still mostly aggressive death metal, without some of the clichés from the Gothenburg scene. The vocals are not really the high part of this album, and I got severely bothered by the hardcore shouting parts on the Tunnel Effect song. This is the only song with this, but it triggered the Shadow’s Fall gag reflex, and seemed very inappropriate for the music. Melody is very present throughout this album, and I would definitely call it a melodic death metal album, despite the para-dox that creates in many people’s minds.

This album had high expectations from me, and maybe that is what drove the rating down mostly, but I do not believe this is as relevant as for example, Martyr’s Hopeless Hopes, or any other more focused technical death metal incorporating more catchy melody in their music. Instant Classic you are not

Yep, one of the best metal bands from Canada returns with a new album, and it's nothing short of stunning, just like their other releases. This album was released nov. 4th in my city, and I couldn't go see the fucking show! After hearing this album, I have to say I regret not going to the show....why? Simple: because this is ownage!

While some people enjoy Quo Vadis' other releases because of the rather melodic tone, or for some other reason, I like them because they mix many sub-genres of the vast metal genre into 1. Their other releases where mainly a mix between thrash/death/melodic and technical, this one basically accomplishes the same, except this time they're back with one more element added: Brutality!!! Just as I thought they couldn't add in any more styles, they add in some brutality, yet always keeping their same unique sound. However, the thrash sound in this is the weakest. There aren't many thrashy riffs in this album.

Quo Vadis' last album was a bit disappointing in the acoustic/clean parts, but this album has more! It contains a few clean guitar interludes here and there, and the interlude "In Articulo Mortis" is a classical piece that contains male and female choirs, piano, cello, etc. and it's stunning... the outro is amazing too, it's a sort of harp/staccato strings that play a sort of oriental melody, accompanied by male and female choirs.

This album is just like their other releases, except it just has more feeling, and it contains more sub-genres into one! Excellent album, whether you like the style (or should I say styles!) or not.