Animamortua – Gods Among Us

Animamortua
Gods Among Us
Label: Underground Symphony
Out: October 20^th, 2023
Playing time: 58:04

The release of “Gods Among Us” was actually a while ago. But because Animamortua had just performed at the Empire Metal Festival in Belgrade (Serbia), the 2023 album was also promoted once again. The band was founded in 2015 and the line-up has obviously been stable since then. An impressive achievement. The EP “State Of Chaos” was also released in the same year. Things have been quiet since then. Two singles were released in the run-up to the release of the debut album. I was able to see the band live at the Metal Over Malta Festival in 2017.

“Blackhole” starts off with a dark sound and solemn melodies. But no, this is not Doom. Later it switches to Power Thrash. With driving drums and roaring guitars. The vocals sound weird at times but mostly powerful. High metal screams are incorporated time and again. All in all, the music is extremely energetic. The twin guitars alternate in the solos. Even if Industrial gadgets can be heard from time to time (“Dark Matter”), the hard guitar work, the pounding drums and the vocals, somewhere between Thrash and Power Metal, are the dominant elements. Despite all the brutal bludgeoning, the melodic arcs are not neglected either. The title track “Gods Among Us” is a highlight with its clean guitars. Although the tempo picks up later on, it offers a pleasantly different sound colour. This is followed by the three-movement monumental work “Lunar Sentinel”. The first part in particular (“Inside The Machine”) surprises with its ballad-like or hymn-like orientation. This shows that the Maltese can also do things differently.

I had already “invented” a genre for “Gods Among Us” – Power Thrash Metal. I think that describes quite well what you can hear on the album. And again, and again you can hear sophisticated guitar solos. The mixture certainly takes some getting used to. But once you’ve got used to it, you can definitely enjoy this almost hour-long album.

Track list:

• Blackhole
• Dark Matter
• Dying Universe
• Heliocentric Affair
• Gods Among Us
• Lunar Sentinel I – Inside The Machine
• Lunar Sentinel II – Operation SIN
• Lunar Sentinel III – Dystopian Earth