Review by Felix on July 4, 2019.

Things can only get better after Acheron's terrible debut. It is always nice to know that one has overcome the lowest point. The band has made a big step forward. This does not automatically mean that Lex Talionis is the name of an indispensable classic of the black/death sub-genre. Far from it! To my great regret, Acheron still make a lot of mistakes that result in an ambivalent overall impression.

First of all, nine intros/outros are included. Fantastic stroke of genius! I guess they were meant to increase the atmosphere of the album but to be honest, these keyboard interludes do not reach the intended purpose. Instead, they hurt the flow of the album and prevent that the listener has the possibility to wallow continuously in the violent sonic orgies of Acheron. Under the bottom line, nine of 45 minutes are useless. 20 percent shit, this is a lot. But the band seems to be entangled in its own questionable concept. I would like to point out that already their first full-length suffered from a very similar arrangement. It is scant comfort to know that this was just one of approximately a million problems of the debut.

Anyway, the regular songs stand in the foreground. Acheron still play a dark form of death metal which is occasionally pepped up with black metal elements. The average velocity is low, the level of primitiveness is still high. Any kind of exceptional or bizarre elements remain out of consideration. However, the main problem is something quite different. Although the compositions reach an acceptable level, they do not capture the attraction of the listeners for more than ten minutes. Roughly speaking, all songs fail to develop a long-lasting impact. The strong verses of "The Entity" constitute the most promising part of the album, but its fairly flaccid chorus is slightly annoying. Nevertheless, this song has an appropriate dose of dynamism, inter alia because of the well accentuated double bass. Too bad that this remains an isolated case. Too many songs are defaced by comparatively lame parts and the compositional skills of the band are still not impressive. Some solos leave a fairly good impression, the sinister vocals are acceptable, but when looking at the big picture, Acheron still lack charisma. Not to mention their stupid lyrics. "The time has come to rid the earth of all its Christian filth"? Okay, I hope you feel well in your clinically clean world of Satan.

Due to whatever reason, the album of the US-Americans was recorded in Vienna. What is even more amazing is the fact that the Austrian production does not show any serious deficiencies. Well, it lacks an extra portion of heaviness in order to reveal the full potential of a slowly creeping piece like "Voices Within", which is actually not bad. But generally speaking, the sound can be described as dense, dark and well balanced. Compared with the dull, powerless and flat production of the debut, the here presented mix marks a noteworthy improvement.

Long story short, the concept sucks, some riffs sound stale and about half of the breaks are not managed in a very clever way. Nevertheless, this second attempt has its moments and the positive tendency cannot be ignored. All maniacs that like old-fashioned black metal can give Lex Talionis a try.

Rating: 5.6 out of 10

Review by Krys on April 30, 2019.

This album came at me from the left field without warning or a notice and disregarding all my previous music preferences, life-long habits and my toxic addictions, unexpectedly found firm place in my music rotation. For those who know me I might say couple things that will not make sense and even call for an intervention and if that behavior continuous please send me some quality death metal to straighten me up.

With that out of my system, let me first bow to the sludge/doom gods that gifted my Florida's trio with aptitude and genius to create one of the best opening tracks ever recorded. That grieving guitar and 'So, here we are, all alone...' introduction that leads into colossal wall of sound and soaring vocals, holly shit! And then guitar interplay with those harmonized vocal lines in the chorus! I simply can't get enough of it! I don't do this, ever, but when title track 'Opus Tierra' is on, my eyes just shut down and I drift away carried by the lead voice floating on heavy riffs and steady punch of the rhythm section. Same feeling takes over me with the closing track 'Restless Seer' where hunting vocal harmonies with single note long passages lead to the grand finale.

The grandiose nature and atmosphere of the Opus Tierra was achieved by massively distorted and fuzzy guitar tone that drives power chords to the breaking point of the speakers and pounding rhythm section keeps this procession moving to the hunting chants of Valentin Mallström. The music here flows with perfect arrangement of its parts where not a single note seems out of place and each instrument gives room for others to shine. Same goes for Valentin's vocal sections. He doesn't overpower his lines and even though his tone is a focal point of the songs I was able to relish all instruments and notice every subtle intention hidden behind music bars coming from guitar, bass or drums.

7 tracks keep this record at perfect length where too much sludgy doom can overstay its welcome but this time it leaves you longing for more. I have never, ever flipped such record back to side A and started my voyage again. Congratulations Nixa.

Here's another thing I thought I'd never say, but for me Nixa seems to flourish in slower and heavier parts rather than in upbeat tracks like 'Destroyer' or ending section of 'The Mound' with upbeat word being used loosely in this context. Same goes for vocals, clean tone and harmonies is where I found them most soothing not screams or harsh tones. Maybe it's just a perfect record in a perfect time of my life where nonstop race for new, better and faster has finally caught up with me and has to step back to let me take time to reflect and notice simple things. Whatever it is Nixa hit a jackpot and the only thing left is to catch them life to experience this in an open setting with wall of sound pounding my chest.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10