UMUR
"Eschatology Of War" is the debut full-length studio album by Ukrainian, Lviv based black/doom/death metal act 1914. The album was released through Archaic Sound in December 2015. 1914 formed in 2014, which is rather symbolic as that year marks the 100-year anniversary since the start of World War I, which serves as the band´s primary lyrical focus, and also their band name. Singing about war is nothing new and artists like Bolt Thrower and Hail of Bullets (and quite a few others) have made whole careers out of it, but off the top of my head I can´t name another artist solely basing their lyrics on World War I (WWI) (I just remembered Kanonenfieber though, so some do exist). The band image, their band photos, and even their performer names reflect the WWI theme. So these guys mean business and their extreme dedication to the project is arguably fascinating.
The lyrics are well written and it´s obvious that the topics are well researched. The band take us through various periods and episodes of WWI, telling stories of mustard gas attacks, the horror, disease, and dread of the trenches, Zeppelin air attacks, machine gun fire, and some historical facts thrown in, which provide the whole thing with the right amount of authenticity and gloom. Needless to say that the lyrics provide the album with a dark and unpleasant atmosphere. Another atmosphere enhancer are the sampled intro and outro tracks "War In" and "War Out", which feature WWI contemporary recording artists Billy Murray and the American Quartet and Charles Harrison respectively performing "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" and "The Last Long Mile". Both tracks are considered compositions related to WWI. The former was often used as a marching song for soldiers during the war.
Stylistically the material on the album is a combination of black metal, doom metal, and death metal. It´s hard to say which of the styles is the dominant one, so my best description of the music would be an equal share of all three. The riffs are sinister, brutal, and heavy, but sometimes faster and more black metal tremolo styled. The pace is predominantly slow and doomy though, but there are also heavy mid-paced death metal styled riffs and rhythms featured on the album (those sections aren´t completely unlike some of Bolt Thrower´s output). The vocals are snarling blackened growling. They are very well performed, intelligible, and passionate, and generally a great asset to the album.
"Eschatology Of War" features a powerful, brutal, and detailed sounding production job, suiting the material perfectly. I personally wouldn´t have minded if the production had been a little more filthy and raw, but the production values are arguably both well sounding and professional. Upon conclusion "Eschatology Of War" is a high quality debut album by 1914. Hitting the right balance between the doom, death, and black metal influences could have proven difficult, but 1914 seamlessly combine the influences and create a sound of their own. The many vintage war themed samples and music snippets combined with the cruel lyrical subjects and the dark and heavy music make "Eschatology Of War" a great listen. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.