Semper Acerbus go straight for the jugular with their blistering third metalcore album titled Following Omens, blasting us across deserts, dunes, mountains, and woodlands deep and dark in the pit of the heart. The vocals are a nuclear fusion of rip-saw growls accented and built on in key moments with layers of traditional lead and harmony lines both modern and medieval, all meant to paint you pictures and sever your soul. The rhythm tracks crash like waves in the wild, and the lyrics are mirrors haunted by the shadows of our deepest and darkest emotional ghosts.
Moreover, this album is a guitar-lover’s dream, often schemed with melodic soloing deep in the mix during the verse, and in effect, sounding like orchestral strings in a supernatural soundtrack echoing inside a damp cave, a deep tunnel, or the nave of some sinister, abandoned, desecrated church. The more nostalgic platform solos are intricate and aesthetically gratifying, and the massive rhythm riffs are often so rich and complex that it feels like knights, rooks, and kings have overtaken a checkerboard. Standout tracks on the album are “Suffering Awaits“, “One Day At A Time“, and “Torn Inside”.
Finally, Following Omens has a wonderfully devastating feel to it, personal and potent. It affects the listener as if a participator in a movement meant to prove that we all share the same dark psychological mysteries. And there is strength in numbers, power in purpose, hope on the horizon even when it hurts. In all, somehow, Semper Acerbus make us value different and opposing truths all at once, as if there is just as much beauty in the sun on the sand and rain on a lake, as fog on the stones or a corpse at a wake. The album is an experience. Listen to it loud.
Following Omens was produced, mixed and mastered by Chris Mora (Upon a Burning Body, Kingdom Collapse) at Warhorse Recordings in San Antonio, Texas. The album cover art was created by Federico Bossinga at Abstract Chaos Design (Dark Funeral, Dimmu Borgir, Oceano, Old Man’s Child).
