Second full length for the Czechs Somnus Aeternus, which with such a moniker, can only be devoted to the darkest and most extreme forms of doom. Let’s get straight to the point: Exulansis exudes at the first approach Swallow The Sun from every pore, so those who read these lines put the soul in peace since now about a possible breath of fresh air brought by the band from Eastern Europe. That said, you can’t help but notice how ours, meanwhile, take cue from the first works of the Finnish band, keeping away from commercial winks and putting us, of them, more than a passage that denotes a certain black attitude: what comes out is a melodic death doom certainly orthodox and that never trespasses in corny passages, preferring rather a certain impact. The strangeness of the work lies in the qualitative imbalance of the tracklist: If the first three tracks, Zen And The Demise, Insecure Pawn and Frostbound, prove to be effective interpretations of the genre, allowing Somnus Aeternus to hold their own in the comparison with the biggest names, in the long Path Through Oblivion and Reaching The Anattá the sound becomes more muddled and weighed down by dissonances and experimental passages that add nothing but, if anything, go to dull the overall value of an album that had started on the right foot. Exulansis shows two different faces of the Czech band: one more derivative but full of pathos in the first half and the other one that tries to free itself with alternate fortunes from the main sources of inspiration; at the level of consuntivo is appreciated above all a song as Insecure Pawn, in which the boys from Morava are able to focus their inspiration, with a final part dramatically evocative. An interesting work, on the whole, that still leaves Somnus Aeternus some room for maneuver, which are probably still torn in the choice between a more linear proposal and another one a bit less conventional but with a strong risk of inconclusiveness.

2016 – Epidemie Records