UMUR
"Invictus" is the debut full-length studio album by Greek musician George Kollias. The album was released through Season of Mist in May 2015. Kollias is mostly known as being the drummer for prolific US death metal act Nile, but he has also acted as session drummer for fellow Greek artists like Cerebrum, Sickening Horror, and Nightfall. He has also released some drum instructional videos.
When an instrumentalist releases a solo album, it´s always interesting what´s featured on the release. Guitarists for example usually focus the music on the guitar, but that´s not the case with George Kollias. "Invictus" of course features loads of examples of his incredible drumming skills, but no drum solos, weird percussive experiments, or anything like that. Even the purely instrumental "Apocalypse" isn´t a drum dominant track, but instead an atmospheric breather placed in the middle of the album. "Invictus" is actually a pretty "straight" and very well played death metal album, that most fans of Kollias work with Nile should be able to appreciate (and fans of Behemoth too, as there are some similarities there too). There are several similarities between the two acts, but this solo project is generally a bit less technical than what Nile is usually known for and as a result slightly more accessible.
The material on the 11 track, 54:38 minutes long album (the limited edition CD digipack features 4 bonus tracks) is generally of a high compositional quality, with a good balance between brutality, melody, fast played- and heavy rhythms, and an overall great dark atmosphere. Listening to the opening trio of tracks will give you a good idea of what the album sounds like. The atmospheric intro track "Echoes of Divinity", the heavy epic title track, and the fast-paced, energetic, and quite frankly stunning "The Passage", represent the album well.
The musicianship is on a high level throughout the album. Kollias not only plays the drums but also rhythm guitars and bass. He also performs the growling vocals. A host of guest musicians play the guitar solos featured on the album. Among others fellow bandmates Dallas Toler-Wade and Karl Sanders (both Nile), and Bob Katsionis (solo, Firewind, Outloud).
"Invictus" is a very well produced album featuring a powerful sound, which brings out the best in the material, and upon conclusion it´s a quality death metal release through and through. It´s not particularly unique sounding (although it´s obvious that it´s Kollias playing the drums), but that´s not always necessary if you can produce something of this high quality. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.