Conceptually revolving around the numerous conflicts and bloodshed during the first World War, a black / doom / death metal band called 1914 formed in 2014. The Lviv Oblast-based act’s lyrical endeavors get detailed and dirty in the trenches, from songs about gasmasks and bayonets to tanks and death tolls.
In the Summer of 1916, Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies clashed in the Vicentine Alps. Noting over 25,000 deaths, with captured soldiers and casualties well beyond quadrupled that amount, the fatal event event earned many names: the Battle of Asiago, The Südtirol Offensive, Battle of the Plateaux. Referencing the brutality of the artillery used (Škoda 30.5 cm Mörser M.11), the Ukrainian metallers intensely reminisce on the track “1916 (The Südtirol Offensive).”
Thematically aligned with Kanonenfieber and stylistically cut-throat like Behemoth, 1914 will be dropping their fourth album next month. Including a vocal feature by Aaron Stainthorpe (My Dying Bride) with production by Alexander Backlund (Letters From The Colony, October Tide) and mastering by Tony Lindgren (Enslaved, Leprous), Viribus Unitis will drop on November 14th via Napalm Records.