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Arditi - Omne Ensis Impera review



Reviewer:
N/A

4 users:
6.75
Band: Arditi
Album: Omne Ensis Impera
Style: Ambient, Neoclassical
Release date: May 2008
A review by: Jeff


01. Omne Ensis Impera
02. Der Angriff Geht Weiter
03. Decisive War
04. Perserverance Is All
05. Profound Truths
06. Sons Of God
07. Onwards!
08. Cladem Nescimus
09. Endkampf

I must confess that "Omne Ensis Impera" is a real discovery for me and that I've never heard anything about Arditi before today. I can understand why because this release is extremely original and recommended only for the true fans of Neo-Classical music. Sure the general ambiance of the album will probably be enjoyed by the metalheads who like oppressing and dark songs but it's also really elitist and I'm afraid that only some few people will buy this release. Who care? Anyway it's obvious that the band doesn't want to be popular so just have a look here and love it or hate it?

The music of Ariditi is extremely dark and oppressing and it will probably remind you the music that we can listen to on documentaries about World War II. Between classic and modern music the sound of Arditi is composed of orchestrations and percussions, this is really oppressing and disturbing and will give you some really bad feelings. Really if you have the chance to listen to this music at home with a big home cinema system I'm sure that you'll have shivers, it's easy to feel the fear before and after a battle when we listen to such music. That's the side that I like on this album, the ambiances are just magisterial, the guys have perfectly understood how to represent war through music.

On the other hand if it can be ok to listen to this album one time, it will probably become a bit more boring with time. After the surprising first listening "Omne Ensis Impera" will become a bit more boring for someone who is not really into this kind of music. No lyrics, only ambient music and dark classical music that's ok for someone who like it but a basic metalhead will not find a lot of interest with time even if I'm sure that some metalheads (doom or epic fans first) will be interested by the release. But it's really elitist, intellectual and hardly understandable for someone who likes to have fun when he listen to music. That's just up to you but you'll like to listen to weird music to enjoy "Omne Ensis Impera".

I don't believe that "Omne Ensis Impera" will have a lot of success for some obvious reasons but I have to congratulate this band to be able to give a feeling of fear through its music. The last Arditi is not recommended to everybody but if you like classical epic dark music, have a look on this album and you will probably be convinced by the music of the Swedish combo.

Written by Jeff | 16.07.2008




Comments

Comments: 10   Visited by: 63 users
16.07.2008 - 15:28
Rating: 7
Ilham
Giant robot
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.
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16.07.2008 - 15:35
TOUGHEST MEMBER
No lyric could be dissappointed for me. Though I still decide to have this stuff.
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16.07.2008 - 15:47
Rating: 7
Ilham
Giant robot
Written by TOUGHEST MEMBER 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?
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16.07.2008 - 18:14
thoumyvision
Account deleted
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.
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16.07.2008 - 20:07
Rating: 7
Ilham
Giant robot
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?
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16.07.2008 - 21:30
TOUGHEST MEMBER
Written by Ilham on 16.07.2008 at 15:47

Written by TOUGHEST MEMBER 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.
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16.07.2008 - 21:42
Rating: 7
Ilham
Giant robot
Written by TOUGHEST MEMBER 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.
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17.07.2008 - 04:26
thoumyvision
Account deleted
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.
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17.07.2008 - 04:48
thoumyvision
Account deleted
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.
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22.07.2008 - 15:32
pdepmcp
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?
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