Woo! It's nice to see a review for Arditi here. Just in case some people don't know about this, he does compose music for Metal bands. "1651" in Marduk's Rom 5:12, and "Deathmarch" in Plague Angel are actually HIS song.
But anyway, this release is not his best work. Standards Of Triumph and Spirit Of Sacrifice are his best albums, they both convey a much more martial and gloomy atmosphere.
I don't want to bitch, but I'd just like to say that I'm a bit disappointed with the way you wrote the review. Instead of saying what would please a metalhead or not, you could have said more about the orchestrations.

No lyric could be dissappointed for me. Though I still decide to have this stuff.

Written by User 6041 on 16.07.2008 at 15:35

No lyric could be dissappointed for me. Though I still decide to have this stuff.

Why would this kind of music need lyrics?

This is indeed an excellent album, if not quite as good as Standards of Triumph.

If you like this I recommend anything by Toriodh, which is one of Henrik"Nordvargr" Bjorkk's many side projects (MZ.412, Folkstorm, Vargr, Forgotten Tomb, and several others)

Also early Der Blutharsch is quite comparable.

Written by [user id=33829] on 16.07.2008 at 18:14

This is indeed an excellent album, if not quite as good as Standards of Triumph.

If you like this I recommend anything by Toriodh, which is one of Henrik"Nordvargr" Bjorkk's many side projects (MZ.412, Folkstorm, Vargr, Forgotten Tomb, and several others)

Also early Der Blutharsch is quite comparable.

Have you listened to the Toriodh/Arditi Split album?

Der Blutharsch is quite different now (unfortunately). Although the mood in Der Blutarsch's Neofolk is similar to this, Triarii is more likely to please an Arditi fan. I could also mention Puissance, early Dernière Volonté and Volkweerbaarheid. Anyway, All the bands you mentioned are good, especially MZ. 412.

But am I the only one to think Standards Of Triumph is really the darkest of all his works?

Written by Ilham on 16.07.2008 at 15:47

Written by User 6041 on 16.07.2008 at 15:35

No lyric could be dissappointed for me. Though I still decide to have this stuff.

Why would this kind of music need lyrics?

Well, you know, I like music combined with vocal. Arcana is also a neoclassical band, they have lyrics and vocal.

Written by User 6041 on 16.07.2008 at 21:30

Well, you know, I like music combined with vocal. Arcana is also a neoclassical band, they have lyrics and vocal.

If you listened to Arditi's music, you'd realise that adding lyrics would only make it less powerful. But, just to make things clear, this not "simple" Neoclassical. There are Dark Ambient/Industrial aspects combined with military themes and marches.

If you are looking for martial music like this with vocals Triarii use vocals on a few (very few) of their songs. Dernière Volonté's later albums are all vocal. Rome is all vocal, and quite amazing. Wappenbund uses vocals on a lot of their songs, unfortunately all of their albums are really hard to find. Rukkanor's latest album is all vocal, with lyrics taken from various poets writing about war and similar subjects. Sophia, Karjalan Sissit, and In Slaughter Natives are also all good choices.

Written by Ilham on 16.07.2008 at 20:07


Have you listened to the Toriodh/Arditi Split album?

Der Blutharsch is quite different now (unfortunately). Although the mood in Der Blutarsch's Neofolk is similar to this, Triarii is more likely to please an Arditi fan. I could also mention Puissance, early Dernière Volonté and Volkweerbaarheid. Anyway, All the bands you mentioned are good, especially MZ. 412.

But am I the only one to think Standards Of Triumph is really the darkest of all his works?

Yes, I have the Arditi/Toroidh split. It actually took me a little longer to enjoy than either of their solo work, and I still think the beginning of the album is a bit slow, but it gets really good after the third song or so, I especially like VIII, I've always enjoyed Toroidh's occasional use of acoustic guitar.

I certainly agree about Der Blutharch, The Track of the Hunted is what got me into martial music in the first place, and they still rank as my favorite in the martial genre, but I really haven't appreciated their last 2 albums at all. I can understand wanting to grow and change your sound, but I wish they'd done it more like their acoustic live album than the poor attempt at "rock and roll" they've been doing recently.

I'm really impressed for the presence of such a band on metal-storm.

I'm a noe-folk/neo-classical/ethereal fan (and of course a metalhead ), and even if I am not much into arditi, this sounds like a good mind-opening in MS. I see there an invisible profile for Puissance too, but almost all big names less industrial-related are missing

Are you planning to open something like a new section or will this remain some sort of singularity into MS?