Year: 2021
Total Time: 38.26
Label: Metal Blade
WEB: “Where Everything Began” the band and the personal vision of Sakis “Darkface” since 2002. A band that started recording in the small and humble Sleazy Rider in 2005 with “Don’t Wake Futility”. Making slow and steady steps, but also with a lot of hard work, they managed to sign a contract with the legendary Metal Blade for their new album “Colosseum”!
This time, Sakis has with him the best line-up so far, with members such as Hell Pyre (bass, backing vocals), Sextus A Maximus (guitars) and Nikitas Mandolas (drums), who manage to create a masterpiece of Extreme/Symphonic/Gothic Metal of about 39 minutes of duration. The album is full of incredibly elaborated guitars and harsh -with a lot of diversity- vocals that give in each song a different presentation, very dark keyboards, but above all, amazing and inspiring orchestral parts! There are also many samples with speeches/recitations that give another dimension to the songs and a special identity -wherever they exist- such as in “Exaudi Luciferi” . Some industrial elements and orchestration techniques are “well hidden” in some parts, but they are also obvious like in “Necrology”. As for the production, it took place at Sound Abuse Studios and it is amazing! There is not a single song out of the 9 that lags behind. I should single out “Dark Web” that opens the album, with an amazing orchestral riff / theme that makes you shiver, and then “Pentalpha” with its amazing start with the repetitive vocals! Finally, another highlight of the album is its oriental parts and melodies that were added in the appropriate places and the result is amazing! Typical examples are “Dominus Maleficarum” and “Ensanguined”.
So, “Colosseum” is by far the Magnum Opus of the band! They deserved to be signed by this label and now new horizons are opening up in front of them! W.E.B. belong without a doubt to the top five bands that represent the Greek scene of extreme (and not only) sound! Getting this record on vinyl or cd is a “must”! Just a single listen is enough to convince everyone …
Rating: 8/10
Editor: Dimitris Argyrakis
Related Link: W.E.B. – Facebook Page