Triarii, named after an elite infantry division of the Roman Empire’s army, may not make the most original music in the world, but I truly like what I hear. “Ars Militaria” is the debut album from this German act, after the single ‘Triumph’, also on the Berlin label Eternal Soul. Like the title promises, you can expect a clear martial atmosphere on pieces like ‘Europe in flames’ and ‘Regicide II’, complete with historical samples and noises.
The album, housed in an elegant grey cover, contains various orchestral anthems in the vein of Sophia, Karjalan Sissit and Wappenbund, with snare drums and other marching percussion, as well as bombastic string layers, uplifting trumpets and choirs. Besides these powerful tracks there also more restrained ritual tunes, which strongly remind of Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, especially through the vocals. Example are ‘Mother of pain’ and ‘Serpent, sun & world ending’. Furthermore there are some tranquil atmospheric classical compositions, like ‘Der verwundete’, dedicated to the controversial sculptor Arno Breker, and musicwise reminding me of In the Nursery.
The music and the subject matter on “Ars Militaria” may not be very innovative, this is a very solid album which will be quite often in my cd-player. If you like heroic martial music, then Triarii is an act to follow.
