Review by Allan on May 30, 2003.

Within the first few minutes of my first listen to Lost Soul's latest album "Ubermensch," I knew that these guys were from Poland. Lost Soul's death metal has that identifiable Polish sound that is impossible not to notice. Now there are two ways I could look at this. The first would be that it's unfortunate that Lost Soul has taken the path that other Polish bands have taken. The other way to view things, is that Lost Soul have put together what sounds to me like one of the best death metal bands out of Poland, second to Vader.

Last year Vader put out "Revelations." While that album was very good in its own respect, it happened to receive not so much playtime from me as it wore on. Hopefully the best days of Vader are not behind them. However, Lost Soul is here to pick up the slack while Vader is on break. That's not to say Lost Soul is a Vader clone. They're not, but one can't say there isn't a string of similarities that binds them together. It must be something in the water over there in Poland. Anyway, "Ubermensch" might be one of the best death metal releases I've heard all year, one of the others being Melechesh's latest black/death album, "Sphynx," which just happens to be on the same label as Lost Soul, Osmose Productions.

"Ubermensch" is one intense record. Through the twelve songs, the only breaks you'll receive are the occasional ambient transitions between songs. Other than that, you're on your own as you walk the path before Lost Soul. There are essentially four parts to Lost Soul that you need know at this point: riffs, melody, keyboards, and solos. The riffs are those thick, heavy, abrasive ones with the occasional tremolo picking and they change direction constantly. However, Lost Soul isn't the type of band that thinks it's not cool to throw in some melody. You'll find the occasional melodies that show up, and of course the keyboards play into that. They're in the background, so it's not like a cheesy keyboard melody is going to pop in out of nowhere. Instead, they're there to color the songs, and they serve their purpose well. And of course, what would death metal from Poland be without those crazy, intense, shred solos that start and end out of nowhere. Lost Soul does it better than most others, though.

Bottom Line: If you want to see what good death metal sounds like in 2003, check out Lost Soul and their latest, "Ubermensch."

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 8
Originality: 7
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Allan on May 30, 2003.

Within the first few minutes of my first listen to Lost Soul's latest album "Ubermensch," I knew that these guys were from Poland. Lost Soul's death metal has that identifiable Polish sound that is impossible not to notice. Now there are two ways I could look at this. The first would be that it's unfortunate that Lost Soul has taken the path that other Polish bands have taken. The other way to view things, is that Lost Soul have put together what sounds to me like one of the best death metal bands out of Poland, second to Vader.

Last year Vader put out "Revelations." While that album was very good in its own respect, it happened to receive not so much playtime from me as it wore on. Hopefully the best days of Vader are not behind them. However, Lost Soul is here to pick up the slack while Vader is on break. That's not to say Lost Soul is a Vader clone. They're not, but one can't say there isn't a string of similarities that binds them together. It must be something in the water over there in Poland. Anyway, "Ubermensch" might be one of the best death metal releases I've heard all year, one of the others being Melechesh's latest black/death album, "Sphynx," which just happens to be on the same label as Lost Soul, Osmose Productions.

"Ubermensch" is one intense record. Through the twelve songs, the only breaks you'll receive are the occasional ambient transitions between songs. Other than that, you're on your own as you walk the path before Lost Soul. There are essentially four parts to Lost Soul that you need know at this point: riffs, melody, keyboards, and solos. The riffs are those thick, heavy, abrasive ones with the occasional tremolo picking and they change direction constantly. However, Lost Soul isn't the type of band that thinks it's not cool to throw in some melody. You'll find the occasional melodies that show up, and of course the keyboards play into that. They're in the background, so it's not like a cheesy keyboard melody is going to pop in out of nowhere. Instead, they're there to color the songs, and they serve their purpose well. And of course, what would death metal from Poland be without those crazy, intense, shred solos that start and end out of nowhere. Lost Soul does it better than most others, though.

Bottom Line: If you want to see what good death metal sounds like in 2003, check out Lost Soul and their latest, "Ubermensch."

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 8
Originality: 7
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Allan on May 30, 2003.

Within the first few minutes of my first listen to Lost Soul's latest album "Ubermensch," I knew that these guys were from Poland. Lost Soul's death metal has that identifiable Polish sound that is impossible not to notice. Now there are two ways I could look at this. The first would be that it's unfortunate that Lost Soul has taken the path that other Polish bands have taken. The other way to view things, is that Lost Soul have put together what sounds to me like one of the best death metal bands out of Poland, second to Vader.

Last year Vader put out "Revelations." While that album was very good in its own respect, it happened to receive not so much playtime from me as it wore on. Hopefully the best days of Vader are not behind them. However, Lost Soul is here to pick up the slack while Vader is on break. That's not to say Lost Soul is a Vader clone. They're not, but one can't say there isn't a string of similarities that binds them together. It must be something in the water over there in Poland. Anyway, "Ubermensch" might be one of the best death metal releases I've heard all year, one of the others being Melechesh's latest black/death album, "Sphynx," which just happens to be on the same label as Lost Soul, Osmose Productions.

"Ubermensch" is one intense record. Through the twelve songs, the only breaks you'll receive are the occasional ambient transitions between songs. Other than that, you're on your own as you walk the path before Lost Soul. There are essentially four parts to Lost Soul that you need know at this point: riffs, melody, keyboards, and solos. The riffs are those thick, heavy, abrasive ones with the occasional tremolo picking and they change direction constantly. However, Lost Soul isn't the type of band that thinks it's not cool to throw in some melody. You'll find the occasional melodies that show up, and of course the keyboards play into that. They're in the background, so it's not like a cheesy keyboard melody is going to pop in out of nowhere. Instead, they're there to color the songs, and they serve their purpose well. And of course, what would death metal from Poland be without those crazy, intense, shred solos that start and end out of nowhere. Lost Soul does it better than most others, though.

Bottom Line: If you want to see what good death metal sounds like in 2003, check out Lost Soul and their latest, "Ubermensch."

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 8
Originality: 7
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Fernando on June 23, 2019.

Svartidauði are the premier act of Icelandic black metal and for good reason, Flesh Cathedral is widely regarded as a modern masterpiece, the high standard for contemporary black metal and the album that almost singlehandedly put the Icelandic scene in the spotlight of extreme metal. After 6 years they return with their second full length album Revelations of the Red Sword after a string of excellent EPs and live shows.

The first thing to note about Revelations of the Red Sword is how it’s both an evolution of Flesh Cathedral but also keeping true to what made that album so good and refreshing. Controlled chaos is the best way to describe this album. At six tracks ranging from 5 to 10 minutes, the band has scale down from the opulent and overwhelming epics of the previous album to straight to the jugular songs as proven by their promo singles, creating an album that’s all killer and no filler; every song is an essential part of the album and not a single second is wasted. 

The guitars and bass create the perfect wall of sound that’s punctuated by the blistering drums and the sinister vocals by frontman and bass player Sturla Viðar who is in my opinion the MVP of this album. His bass playing is much more layered than before, instead of the crushing and overpowering sound he displayed in Flesh Cathedral he now takes the lead in maintaining the songs’ ebb and flow, being much more controlled but not less savage. The intense and thundering bass riffs are still here but the majority of the focus is now handled by the guitar work of Þórir who takes center stage in the main riffs, tremolo picking and as previously mentioned the wall of sound that only Svartidauði can do; a noisy, violent and relentless dirge of pure chaos which are then perfectly complemented by the drumming by Magnús who keeps all the songs together with a drum work that’s equal parts progressive and primitive displaying both fast blast beats and droning beats, making full use of the full kit and the double bass.

The song that perfectly encapsulates the sound and atmosphere of this album is “The Howling Cynocephali” which I also think it’s the best track of the album. All the instruments take center stage here, Svartidauði in this song and the album as a whole create a cacophonous symphony of pure bedlam displaying the true spirit of black metal as well as expanding and evolving on almost every aspect from their previous efforts, but above all it makes Svartidauði unique which is becoming harder and harder in the ever expanding world of extreme metal. This album is proof that Svartidauði deserve all the accolades they’ve received and I’m looking forward to what they do next.

Best tracks: "The Howling Cynocephalo", "Sol Ascending", "Aureum Lux"

Rating: 10 out of 10