After the release of their debut album "Aberration" (2023), I was curious to see in which direction Horoh would continue to deform musically. Well, after a few listens to "Horde of Horror", I'm happy to report that the sophomore album from the French macabre duo delves even deeper into the depths of horror, gore and death. The primitive musical formulas and soundscapes they propagate are rooted in the glorious 90s of death metal, so don't expect anything fancy from either. But what you're about to experience is decidedly morbid and obscure, about 40 minutes long and divided into 13 chapters. If I compare the new songs with the songs from the debut album, I notice some changes in riff structures and arrangements, you could call it a natural evolution, but the fact is that they are simply better and more inventive. The Cannibal Corpse touch is also fading, which is definitely a good thing if you ask me. In addition, the horror elements have been given more space in this material, making the overall product much creepier and sicker. The band members, J (visceral strings, inhuman drums, filthy bass & putrid growls) and S (rotten throat, putrid tongue & vicious screams), are passionate about the true spirit of old-school death metal, and it comes through bloody well in their repertoire. By the way, the booklet says that no vocal effects were used on this record, which is a clear indication of how killer the vocalists are. Hats off to their throats and lungs! The sound is solid and balanced, thanks to J's mixing and Will's mastering. Furthermore, Horoh's eerie approach to music is perfectly matched by the visuals of Moky, who created not only the spooky cover artwork, but all the other perfectly apt images for the booklet and back cover. Let's see what else, the CD also includes a pretty good cover of Blood's "Cannibal Ritual", adapted to Horoh's style of course. If that wasn't enough, the song "Death Evoken" features guest vocals from Martin Witchskinner himself. How about this? Well, it's pretty cool, for sure. The CD edition is limited to 300 copies and comes with an O-card, but "Horde of Horror" is also available on cassette and vinyl. So now is the time to decide and order the format you want!!!

This is the latest CD reissue of Immortalis' only full-length album, "Indicium de Mortuis" (1991), which was released prior to the vinyl and cassette reissues by Awakening Records. However, all of the above-mentioned reissues use the same Mehdi Salkhi-remastered sound, with more mid and high frequencies than the original, to give the album a punchier and sharper sound. This revamped version has a decidedly killer sound, although there is audible distortion in the second and sixth instrumental tracks, which I think should have been better checked before release. But apart from this flaw, this CD reissue is definitely a collector's item for all Immortalis fans. Besides the 10 songs from the "Indicium de Mortuis" album, there are 5 songs from the "Final Death" demo and an unreleased song as a bonus. These 16 tracks last over 70 minutes. By the way, the songs from the "Final Death" demo were also remastered by Mehdi Salkhi, but without the "Outro" track, which was included on the Dark Symphonies 2CD reissue in 2021. Somehow these demo songs from 1993 lost the special atmosphere they had on the full-length album, which is a pity, maybe it was because of the member changes, but who knows. Nevertheless, the death metal excellence of "Indicium de Mortuis" is still timeless, and that's the point, at least for me. This current CD reissue contains a song that has not previously been included on other releases and is simply called "Unreleased Song". It is also an interesting fact that it was recorded in the "Indicium de Mortuis" line-up. This is a rehearsal recording without vocals. And since the first riff of "Subordinate Gods" is heard somewhere in the middle of the song, I conclude that this song was written and recorded before the album's songs were finalized. A great addition, for sure! The CD also comes with a 4-page booklet which, in addition to the album and demo credits, includes a fantastic photo collage (17 band photos in total) on the two inner pages. I also liked the way the back cover was designed, very well done! All in all, as I mentioned above, this is a must-have for Immortalis fans worldwide!!!