Iuvenes try to clone viking metal era Bathory, and are probably influenced by Graveland’s more epic style change, especially noteworthy since the band’s demo wasn’t even metal.

The vocals are amongst the silliest I’ve ever heard. There’s some massive Germanic accenting on them (even though the band are from Poland), and they end up sounding uniquely stupid because of that. If you were ever turned off by the accenting on a German thrash album, then you’ll laugh especially hard at these – most likely because they’re over emphasized and fake! The clean vocals on ‘Ubi Sunt’ sound more like the idiot on the bus with tourettes syndrome then ‘epic Wagnerian viking choirs’.

Musically, the band is reasonably proficient, but manage to create a handful of songs that go nowhere. Note, for example, ‘Chariots of Gold’, which starts out pretty decent, but will have you pressing ‘stop’ about 45 seconds into the track. This is no 'One rode to Asa Bay', 'Father to Son', let alone even the weak 'Immortal Pride' as the band is aiming for.

Normally, I would devote more energy to criticizing this disc, but it’s such a foolish waste of time that I won’t even bother.

© 2001 brand