Review: “Daemones Ceramici” by Solus Ex Inferis

A trans-continental Technical Death Metal band who first came to prominence in 2018 with a critically acclaimed debut EP “Demonic Supremacy“, Solus Ex Inferis is very much a beast of gargantuan proportions. Spearheaded by long-time musician and guitar player, Dave Sevenstrings who is joined by drummer Marco Pitruzzella aka Lord Marco (Six Feet Under, Sleep Terror, ex-The Faceless), vocalist Sahil Makhija aka Demonstealer (Demonic Resurrection, Reptilian Death), lead guitarist Ollie Morgan (Necropathy) and bassist Mauricio Catalán, they have been crafting their highly anticipated debut full length album, named after the malevolent spirits in Greek mythology “Daemones Ceramici” for three long years…

…Whether you consider this a concept album or not remains entirely down to the listener as lyrically Demonstealer ruminates on thoughts of human beings as the real demons and reflects the hypocrisy and hatred fueled by religion to the degree that the creators of Blasphemous Black Metal often do throughout. If you’ve encountered the Mumbai India based multi instrumentalist before, you’ll know how his vocals can inflict third degree burns on the flesh of the listener and on this very project these are among his most brutal to date. Opening cut “The Myth Creation” sets the bar incredibly high for the album with phenomenal sweeping lead parts from Morgan and a restless and relentless percussive battery from Pitruzzella who is an absolute beast on the kit. You’d struggle to find a drum machine that could match the underpinning onslaught that he provides. That continues into “Constructing the Great Divide” and latterly “Destroying Malevolence” which go virtuoso with those leads to stunning and sinister effect as Demonstealer spits fire and brimstone with a deep rooted knowledge and hatered with the kind of intelligence that blows the mind. There is certainly plenty to think about conceptually in the lyric book of the album and even the more direct “Shattering Divinity“, a caustic attack of chantable lyrics that pours battery acid on the faithful has that about it with another plague bearing vocal performance. “Set Ablaze the Books of Deception” muses on the idea that religion is mind control with some brutal stuccato riff change ups before the thunderous “Destroying False Gods” severs flesh from bone with a blistering performance of fretboard smoking dexterity that will have Necropathy fans sweating and hoping that their guitarist hasn’t given all of his finest riffs to this side project. As razor sharp as those leads are they actually provide a sense of melody that serves to give a sense of dark beauty to the otherwise brutal destructive force that is Solus Ex Inferis. There is also a sense of the ‘hold on to your hats, we’re playing as fast as we can‘ about “Daemones Ceramici” that if they did play it live could unravel into a high speed car crash pretty quickly. But on the record they have everything to perfection and remain as critically acclaimed as they did the first time around [8/10]

Track listing

1. The Myth Creation
2. Constructing the Great Divide
3. Shattering Divinity
4. Destroying Malevolence
5. Set Ablaze the Books of Deception
6. Destroying False Gods
7. The Black Gate

“Daemones Ceramici” by Solus Ex Inferis is out 9th July with pre-orders available over at bandcamp