1914

Metal's obsession with war stories has led to some glorious music over the years. From the thrash era's fixation on the nuclear threat, to SABATON's dedication to illuminating historical events, heavy music and the heaviness of real-world conflict go together so well that there is a risk that the subject matter itself will fade into the background: an atmospheric backdrop, rather than a cautionary tale of mankind's idiocy. Formed in Ukraine 11 years ago, 1914 are among the most lethally effective bands to base their music on tales of war and not solely because their own country has been recently invaded by a psychotic tyrant. "Viribus Unitis" follows a trilogy of albums that painstakingly unveiled the horrors of the First World War, and offers a slightly changed perspective on the whole torrid deal. Focusing on the relationships, friendships and camaraderie that enabled a lucky few to survive from its commencement to its endgame, this is where the Ukrainians celebrate humanity as much as condemn it, albeit with music that remains firmly within the same whirlwind of bloody shrapnel that informed its predecessors. Still haunted by the loss of innocent life on a grand scale but buoyed by the human connections and resilience that defied the odds, "Viribus Unitis" is the band's most profound statement to date. It is also ruinously heavy and unexpectedly more adventurous.

1914 have always been a band with conceptual clarity, but here they have made an album that marches through First World War events in chronological order, which ensures that "Viribus Unitis" is the most impactful record of their career. Those of us with only a passing interest in military history may need to brush up on the details elsewhere, but these songs offer a vivid education of their own. "1914 (The Siege Of Przemyśl)" deals with the advancing Russian army and its defeat of Austro-Hungarian forces in what was then a new conflict erupting across Europe. Fittingly, the song itself is one of 1914's most vicious yet, with pitiless blastbeats and an air of mounting chaos that brings an extra, hostile edge to the band's tried and tested blend of blackened death metal and seismic doom. Temporally relevant soundbites and curios abound on "Viribus Unitis", but it is the seething fury of the music that hammers the point home with the most vigor. Songs like "1916 (The Südtirol Offensive)" and "1917 (The Isonzo Front)" paint startling pictures of the unfolding horror, with the fine details found in the POV perspective lyrics, as avalanches of riffs echo each murderous onslaught and vocalist Dmytro Ternushchak barks his deadly orders from the heart of the madness.

When 1914 drop the tempo to a terrifying slow grind, as they do on the brilliant "1918 Pt. 1 (Wounded in Action)", the desperate, emotional surge is palpable. When they invite Aaron Stainthorpe (HIGH PARASITE / ex-MY DYING BRIDE) and Jerome Reuter (ROME) to contribute to "1918 Pt. 3 (A duty to escape)" and "1919 (The Home Where I Died)" respectively, their pathos-laden vocals add several layers of harrowing human interest to already powerful and evocative work. It certainly helps that this band have tightened up their songwriting and become ever more adept at conjuring these mental images through sheer ferocity of execution, but an even greater achievement is that "Viribus Unitis" feels like a fire-damaged time capsule haunted by the ghosts of the not-too-distant past. The whole record rips like machine-gun fire and is horribly and necessarily dark as fuck, but the triumph of the human spirit shines through regardless.