Tag Archives: Carthage

Underground Sounds: Ade – Carthago Delenda Est

Label: Xtreem Records
Band: Ade
Country: Italy

Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam
– Cato

Ancient Rome has spoken to the imagination of many artists. The fine arts as well as the popular arts. With films filled with brave warriors, great battles and the grandeur and decadence of old. The theme has been sorely under exposed in metal though with rare bands like Ex Deo (featuring Kataklysm members) or the mild influence on others Alea Jacta Est (a French hardcore band).

In fact I wrote about this already once.

Ade is a breath of fresh air in this little niche with a death metal album that will rattle the Collosseum. Think Nile or Behemoth, but definitely also a bit of that approach of Ex Deo and you have an inkling of the sheer brutallity of this technically endowed band. The group puts the sheer grandeur of the Roman empire in their sound and like with others, it really works.

Ofcourse the result is a bit theatrical and reeks of Bolt Thrower, but how else can you make a song about the most warlike nation ever? That must have been what this group from the eternal city of Rome thought themselves too. The trick is putting those female vocals and strange sounds into your music, but it works smoothy and balanced on this record that features a lot of Carthaginian themes. The title tells you enough, but a song like ‘Annibalem’ obviously refers to the famed general.

The music is complex, but clean sounding and therefor a lot of fun to listen to. It carries the vibe of battle, of intensity and frantic riffing. The vocals are brutal, either deep grunts or guttural barks, even more so setting the vibe that you want on a record like this. The stop-go bursts of guitar work are razor sharp, but so is the build up in some songs, all praising Mars. Blistering and dazzling, but always heavy as fuck, with those martial pounding rhythms and mighty horns. You can imagine the stamped of the war elephants, atleast I can.

You really don’t need to be a tech-head to set your teeth into this recording of fine, catchy death metal. Sure, it packs a punch, but due to the clean production and highly entertaining variety, it’s a fun record to really get into for pretty much anyone who digs the heavy hitters.