Vltimas – Epic

Exactly five years separate the Vltimas albums in the current retrospective... and these are two very strong, but different records. The new album is presented in a more lyrical and at the same time in a more accessible way. This is a branded rock metal album from professionals, each of whom went beyond the usual musical forms, but on the courage gave out a firm-sounding material. This is absolutely the right album, which has top-end production, expensive sound and rational songwriting, but damn charming. Its main advantage is that it is impossible to adjust it to any characteristic. There are labels like Blackened Death/Thrash Metal in various sources. And in fact, just Metal with its own face. This time neither Blasphemer brought Mayhem, nor D. Vincent brought Morbid Angel or something else. There is no excessive aggression, the injection of horror / darkness / satan/ dissonances / walls of sound. But the album is composed quite variously, there is some kind of catchy vibe in it.

The vinyl edition from SoM sounds and looks great. Vinyl sounds quite rich, the original production of the record is made at a very high level, so vinyl mastering reveals the strengths of this record. The design looks luxurious - gold foil on the cover, directly gold vinyl. Apparently, the three-headed eagle on the cover should symbolize the "imperial ambitions" of the band. Well, in general, the eagle's coat of arms has a rather interesting reading, and depending on the number of eagles heads, the symbol has a different context in different cultures and epochs. Returning to the Vltimas, it is certainly a high-quality press, in which all the details are worked out.

My copy is more like just gold colored without marbling. There are really faint black spots on record.

I have a copy of this and it rocks. Manifesto!