Band: ETERNAL SACRIFICE
Country: Brazil
Title: Ad Tertivm Librvm Nigrvm
Label: Hammer of Damnation
Year: 2018
Style: Pagan Black Metal

Review:
The third black book, or Ad Tertivm Librvm Nigrvm from Eternal Sacrifice is obviously their third full-length album released no less than 8 years after their second opus, but since we're dealing here with a veteran band (formed in 1993), it's quite understandable, they all have different and maybe more priorities than when they initially started the whole thing. 10 tracks in almost an hours of playing time, with long song titles, which seems to be a trademark for the band actually, Eternal Sacrifice immerse the listener into an occult, mysterious, mid-tempo to fast paced Pagan Black Metal with occasional influences from Thrash Death and even Viking (just listen to the third track with its insert of clean vocals reminding of the early Viking Metal scene). The compositions are diverse, varied enough to avoid boredom, and this seems to be because all musicians know their place in this whole, the band overall sounds curdled and mature, exactly what you'd expect from a band with such extensive experience, and the outcome is really great especially if you think you'd enjoy a mix between the Greek Black Metal scene, the Brazilian energetic Metal and the Scandinavian early Viking Metal scene on the earlier mentioned track. Curious enough track 8 is flanked by an interlude and an epilogue making it stand out from the rest; just imagine a combination of Bathory and Death and you get the idea of how it sounds, technical, melodic and aggressive at the same time, absolutely the best track on the album. Melody is better represented here by the technical guitar leads and solos  rather than what everyone would have expected, the keys, but I'm sure that's the perfect solution for fans of rawer Metal which seems to be the band's target. Hammer of Damnation spared no expenses on this album so the CD comes in deluxe digipak format with slipcase and 20 pages booklet, an impressive release.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10

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