From the aching disharmony of oblivion stems the deepest of human fears wherein our ideals and comforts lay within the ruins of prescribed obsolescence, few do much to draw attention to such tragedies and even less to attempt to realize the full extent of infliction, yet notable amongst these macabre stalwarts is "Invicta" the Melodic Death Metal band from Ontario, Canada.

The album starts off with a bang commencing with "Terminal Brutality" introducing us to the musical prowess and the thematic elements of the band. The lyrics speak of the folly of devotion describing the commanding of a tyrant over subordinates who meet death at the whim of the tyrant in question. The music stops and starts at different sections of the song creating interesting instances of tension as it's the entire band which plays in staccato fashion. "Sacred Scourge"
contains similar mannerisms but does more to showcase the more melodic driving of the guitars throwing in arpeggios and sweeps over rhythmic passages.

The guitars are the greatest aspect of the freshman album playing off one another in mastery as they not only tell the story of each song but also build up a soundscape all of their own. The singing perfectly contrasts the strings and percussion standing out from the mix without being overbearing. The drums are always changing their groove in an unexpected and amazing manner in which you never know in which direction they will go, yet they never depart from the music or create a stark contrast, if there ever was such a concept as a "lead drummer" this would be it. The vocals are shrill and lurid coloring in the empty space of the rhythm with passages of heresy, despotism, and denigration all of which can be heard made mention of in "Eye of Destruction."

My favorite element of the album is the complexity and definition given to each song as each feels that they were themselves worked from a composer's point of view, focusing more on the intrinsic sounding of the songs rather than just writing a rhythm section and voicing lyrics over it; each passage bounces around between being polyphonic and homophonic being constructed around harmony and unity, which is best hard in their ending track "the Rapture"-the grandness of each work is also reflected in the total length of each peace as the longest. "The Rapture;" falls just over 9 minutes in length and the shortest, "Terminal Brutality," at 3 and a half.

To anyone with a penchant towards macabre topics, a love for Death Metal, an interest in orchestral works wrought into metal music, or incredibly long and inspiring songs then "Invicta" would be sure to fall into their interest without any mode of hindrance. The band exceeds at the unexpected and defines themself unique both by their approach and delivery.