Review by Brian on November 21, 2014.

There have always been bands that get slammed unfairly by critics. In recent years Opeth is a perfect example of this. On the flip side, there are those bands who get the praise they deserve, but years after their most compelling work. Katatonia comes to mind immediately. Sadly, Primordial fits in the latter category. These Celts steadily progressed with each release, culminating with their masterpiece The Gathering Wilderness. However, the last two releases, while gaining massive critical acclaim, have left this listener unsatisfied. Where Greater Men Have Fallen isn't any different. Upon first listen, although better than the last two, it is just more of the same. Primordial is stuck in a rut of repetition. This is acceptable from Darkthrone but I have come to expect more from Primordial.

Where Greater Men Have Fallen starts out strong. The title track is the traditional epic anthem with a sing-along chorus that has made the band so enjoyable to listen to throughout the years. This is followed by the doom laden "Babel's Tower", which is one of the few stand out tracks. A.A. Nemtheanga's vocal choices here are sublime. After that the album loses steam. There are still some good moments but they are few and far between. Most of the songs on just drag on. Some of the tracks have no direction, as if they were thrown together. "Born to Night" saves the album. Just when I was about to give up on it completely, this song sucked me back in. Reminiscent of "The Coffin Ships" it displays all of the bands strengths and none of their weaknesses.

It's not a bad album, but it's not a great album either. Most of the fanbase will find it enjoyable, however, those who are still waiting for something that will match up to greatness this band has shown on Spirit the Earth Aflame or The Gathering Wilderness, will be disappointed. I recommend the newcomer to start with one of the two above mentioned albums rather than Where Greater Men Have Fallen.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Review by JD on April 28, 2012.

Instrumental albums can be hard to digest for some, a necessity for others. I have loved some and found others to be overdone and made me fall asleep from boredom. Minnasota based instrumental Doom/Stoner act Zebulon Pike is one of those.

Going instrumental after a line up change, was a choice that the band never once seemed to regret. Mixing Doom, Stoner, Post Rock and some wicked speedier metal they are unafraid to use any style of metal to meld there sound, and to slam it right into your face. Musical broad and incredibly heavy, they deliver the doomier goods, yet it seems lost and that is where they lose me.

With most tracks clocking in at over ten minutes long, they give you a musical ride through a musical expression of all human emotions. They do this to a point, but I have to say that getting a vocalist and great lyrics would launch this amazingly musical band into the metallic elite. It is sad when people have such talent, but the vehicle is equivalent to a broken down Lada car - useless. I like the music to a point, but with what I think is missing, and I hope that this band will heed this suggestion, and fast.

I think they need a very unique and powerful vocalist, sort of like Paul Kuhr of Novembers Doom, but perhaps with a lower vocal style that would put Zebulon Pike into a higher plane. Even Yngwie Malmsteen, who had one of the best instrumental albums of all time ("Far Beyond The Sun") changed to having a vocalist and made it work... and he was amazing.

This is a nice musically sound instrumental album but limiting to both the members, and the metal public. I hope that they take my little critique and just think about it, a vocalist as individual as they are would make them unstoppable. They are their own worse enemy.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9.5
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 7
Originality:9
Overall: 7

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by JD on April 28, 2012.

Instrumental albums can be hard to digest for some, a necessity for others. I have loved some and found others to be overdone and made me fall asleep from boredom. Minnasota based instrumental Doom/Stoner act Zebulon Pike is one of those.

Going instrumental after a line up change, was a choice that the band never once seemed to regret. Mixing Doom, Stoner, Post Rock and some wicked speedier metal they are unafraid to use any style of metal to meld there sound, and to slam it right into your face. Musical broad and incredibly heavy, they deliver the doomier goods, yet it seems lost and that is where they lose me.

With most tracks clocking in at over ten minutes long, they give you a musical ride through a musical expression of all human emotions. They do this to a point, but I have to say that getting a vocalist and great lyrics would launch this amazingly musical band into the metallic elite. It is sad when people have such talent, but the vehicle is equivalent to a broken down Lada car - useless. I like the music to a point, but with what I think is missing, and I hope that this band will heed this suggestion, and fast.

I think they need a very unique and powerful vocalist, sort of like Paul Kuhr of Novembers Doom, but perhaps with a lower vocal style that would put Zebulon Pike into a higher plane. Even Yngwie Malmsteen, who had one of the best instrumental albums of all time ("Far Beyond The Sun") changed to having a vocalist and made it work... and he was amazing.

This is a nice musically sound instrumental album but limiting to both the members, and the metal public. I hope that they take my little critique and just think about it, a vocalist as individual as they are would make them unstoppable. They are their own worse enemy.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9.5
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 7
Originality:9
Overall: 7

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by Fran on April 20, 2020.

Hailing from LatAm, specifically Colombia, I expected a way more brutal approach to death metal from this band called Vitam Et Mortem. The album begins with an odd sounding classical arrangement and the intro for the second track called 'Los Cuerpos en el Río' is actually a parody from a very famous Christmas song “Los peces en el río”, it sounds like a false start and it’s not funny at all but when the song properly kicks in things get really interesting. The first thing I noticed was the production: way too polished for this type of death metal that is still actually pretty dark and heavy composition wise. The lead guitar is very prominent and sometimes drifts away from the main riff to accompany the vocal line without it being overly melodic. These leads kind of remind me of Dissection demo era, closer to death metal.

The band doesn’t use a lot of riffs, they prefer dissonant and dark fast tremolo guitar melodies on the lower frets. Rhythmically the band is also very rich, they draw stop and go marching beats between the bass and the drums to bedizen the main themes and even if it doesn’t take the melody away it makes the music more menacing overall. 0 groove, 100% satanism. There are some acoustic passages that sound like a Helloween-esque bard playing, the medieval effect is well coined all over the album. The album cover features a cartoon witch or a wizard and shows off the death/folk roots from the band.

The mix is perfect; every instrument is perfectly leveled and always audible. As well as the acoustic bard parts there are some piano with spoken word passages that technically were perfectly recorded but those are the parts of the album I’m not really into. The slow and heavy breakdowns and the meaner parts overall sound awesome even with the leads going crazy on the background. I appreciate the distinctive elements and the originality in composition from these guys, and I’m hoping they release an album more focused on the songs than on the storytelling power metallish thing someday; the last couple of tracks are one cover (from Masacre, one of the first and better known death metal acts from Colombia) and one re-recorded old song, this classic track absolutely slays because it’s less experimental with the medieval instruments and it focuses on the aggression while it keeps the interesting leads and the rhythmic guitar giving it more punch and weight.

Rating: 8 out of 10