1914 – Viribus Unitus
1914 – Viribus Unitus
Napalm Records
14/11/2025
Review by Oli Gonzalez
8/10
1914. The year the world saw one of the greatest conflicts in recorded history. A conflict generating stories that have inspired the songs of countless poets, musicians, and Metal bands! Though not many have been able to produce music as visceral and intense as Ukraine’s 1914, bringing the horrors of these events to life via the medium of Black Metal. Following up 2021’s “Where Fear And Weapons Meet”, “Viribus Unitus” may well be one of the most important records for the genre in history! Given the unthinkable and sobering atrocities that are taking place in the country right now, it’s a minor miracle that we’ve managed to hear new 1914 music. New music that focuses on ‘the human bonds forged under fire and the strength of those who returned’, and tales of solidarity and mental endurance from the front lines. How these themes manifest needs to be checked out.
As is traditional, the album opens with a song recorded from that world war era, to get us into that mindset and make the transition from modern day to the mid-1910s.
If you’re looking for blistering guitar leads, 1914 have you covered in the shape of ‘1914 (The Siege of Przemyśl)’. In fact, the whole album is stacked with tasty riffs, especially during ‘1917 (The Isonzo Front)’ when things get slower, nastier, and more sinister! Likewise in ‘1918 Pt 1: WIA (Wounded in Action)’. In this song, you’ll also find the punishing low-end and necksnapping grooves that are rare within the Black Metal genre. Then again, there aren’t many bands like 1914.
Vocalist Dymtro has always been central to 1914’s sound, his piercing growls as fierce as any bullet on the battlefield. Yet there’s still a diction and clarity to his voice that makes following the lyrics and narrative possible, rather than the usual high KVLT clichés we get in the genre. It seems like others in the band have joined in the backing vocal efforts, with an almost Gregorian monk style chant adding extra dimension and dynamics to the band’s sound. This effect being most prominent in ‘1915 (Easter Battle for the Zwinin Ridge)’ and ‘1917 (The Isonzo Front)’.
‘1919 (The Home Where I Died)’ is perhaps the stand out on the record. Stripped down, slow, largely just pianos and vocals with a huge dosage of atmosphere and a haunting tale of a soldier who may have survived the war and captivity physically but mentally will perhaps never be the same again! This one will tug on your heart strings…if not, you might just be dead inside.
Overall, a storming effort from a band continuously redefining the rules of the genre. A solid album which sadly just lacks that one killer standout song, but perhaps this will be more of a slow burner.
TRACK LISTING
01. War In (The Beginning of the Fall)
02. 1914 (The Siege of Przemyśl)
03. 1915 (Easter Battle for the Zwinin Ridge)
04. 1916 (The Südtirol Offensive)
05. 1917 (The Isonzo Front)
06. 1918 Pt 1: WIA (Wounded in Action)
07. 1918 Pt 2: POW (Prisoner of War)
08. 1918 Pt 3: ADE (A duty to escape)
09. 1919 (The Home Where I Died)
10. War Out (The End?)
LINKS
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