Year: 2025
Total Time: 18.45
Label: Reigning Phoenix Music
Maurizio Iacono’s (frontman of KATAKLYSM) side project EX-DEO with its new EP, “Year Of The Four Emperors” carries on with the lessons of Roman history that had started with its first full length album “Romulus” in 2009, dedicated to the legendary founder and first Emperor of the Roman Empire (753-716 BC), to continue with Caligula (37-41 AD) and the album “Caligula” (no surprise there) in 2012. The next chapter was the Carthaginian or Punic Wars (264 – 146 BC) and the album “The Immortal Wars” (2017) and their last full length album in 2019, “The Thirteen Years of Nero” dealt with the tumultuous reign of Nero (54-68 AD).
Now EX-DEO is back in full force with one of the most coherent EPs I’ve ever listened to. The reason of course is that the band focuses on the year that followed the death of Nero and the 4 Emperors that succeeded him in just a few months. With their EP, EX-DEO dedicate a song to each Emperor and give them a compositional style that suits the, albeit brief, reign of each one. It starts with the Symphonic Death Metal song “Galba” that introduces the listener to the historical context of a troubled Roman Empire that, after the death of Nero, is under constant civil strife. Galba is soon assassinated by Otho, his former ally, and takes over the Empire. “Otho” is a darker and heavier song and captures the dynamics of Otho dominating over Galba. However, he is quickly defeated by another pretender to the throne, Vitellius, who is remembered for his brief but ferocious and violent dictatorship, and as a result, the related song follows this atmosphere. We continue in the dark paths of “Otho” but with even more aggressive guitars, imposing drums and furious vocals. The EP closes with “Vespasian” which is about the man who managed to bring peace and stability to the Empire. So, it’s not surprising that “Vespasian” has a more triumphant tone keeping all the symphonic Death Metal elements but without the dark cloak of “Otho” and “Vitellius”.
The release of “Year Of The Four Emperors” makes perfect sense unlike many other EPs that exist just to complete a bands’ discography. Four Emperors and four songs that lyrically and compositionally capture the temperament and history of each historical figure. An excellent release especially for fans of the genre.
Rating: 7,5/10
Editor: Kostas Boudoukos
Related Link: EX DEO – Official Page