George Kollias – Invictus (Season of Mist)
Thursday, 28th May 2015
Chances are if you are reading this, you are most likely a fan of the death metal institution that is Nile. Having served as Nile’s drummer since 2004, he has long been known for his thunderous drumming and technique. Alas, as many tend to do, he decided to release some original material on his own and teamed up with Season of Mist to do so. Invictus is the first output of this partnership.
In true “solo album” form, Kollias handles all of the duties himself. He wrote all of the music and lyrics, and tackles all of the instrumentation outside of a slew of guest performers (including Karl Sanders and Dallas Toler-Wade of his “other” band, and Mike Papadopoulos, among a slew of appearances). No one is going to be surprised to know that this sounds quite a bit like Nile, albeit a bit more straight-forward version. Obviously, the drumming is top notch, which goes without say. Kollias does what he does best and really makes the drumwork shine as it should. His vocals are also impressive low roars with plenty of power and enunciation behind them. The guitar and bass work is good, but nothing really falls out of the standard category, and obviously don’t go into this seeking complete Nile (because what would the point be there, really) or thou shalt be a bit disappointed. But those looking for some solid death metal should be sure to check out the drumming stampede that is “Epitaph” and the crushing power of “The Passage.”
Surely fans of Kollias’ work with that band that keeps being mentioned will get some enjoyment out of Invictus. It doesn’t go out on any limbs to differentiate itself too much, but one can’t listen to a number of these tracks without being downright flattened by the drumming. As far as the rest of it goes, Kollias proves he is pretty serviceable all around, so give this one a listen as you wait for the imminent Nile release this summer.
