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Artist......: Battleroar
Album.......: Codex Epicus
Year........: 2018
Genre.......: Heavy Metal
Type........: Album
Label.......: Cruz Del Sur Music
Language....: English
Source......: WEB/FLAC (16bit)
Quality.....: 910kbps / 44.1 kHz / Stereo
Tracks......: 9 tracks
Playtime....: 00:54:56
Size........: 364.0 MiB
R.Date......: 2026-07-10
S.Date......: 2018-06-15
Url.........: https://open.qobuz.com/album/xhuir70bb35ea
01. Awakening the Muse 2:08
02. We Shall Conquer 7:46
03. Sword of the Flame 7:25
04. Chronicles of Might 6:22
05. The Doom of Medusa 8:21
06. Palace of the Martyrs 5:29
07. Kings of Old 4:25
08. Enchanting Threnody 7:25
09. Stronghold 5:35
At the intersection of Blind Guardian and Manilla Road
lies Greece's Battleroar-epic paeans to battle and
heroes, historical tales of Ye Olden Days, infectious
guitar leads, soaring melodies, bombastic choirs...
Codex Epicus is the band's fifth full-length, and their
third for Italian trad-metal flag-wavers Cruz del Sur,
which is the perfect home for a band of Battleroar's
style and caliber. Their last effort, 2014's Blood Of
Legends, thoroughly impressed my compatriot Professor
Obstkrieg-although, I must admit that I was a bit less
enthusiastic about it. I thought Legends was certainly a
solid effort, but also not quite firing on all
cylinders, which was a problem I also had with its
predecessor, 2008's To Death And Beyond.
Tragically, it's a problem I have with Codex Epicus too,
although Battleroar has streamlined its attack (no
violins this time!), and more of Codex succeeds than
stumbles.
First, the positive: Codex has a strong batch of
material to work from, with standouts in the
eight-minute "The Doom Of Medusa," the pomp-metal of
"Kings Of Old," and the grandiose "Sword Of The Flame,"
the latter of which features guest vocals and guitar
from The Man Himself, Mr. Mark "The Shark" Shelton of
Manilla Road. This type of distinctly epic traditional
metal is Shelton's calling card, and his shadow looms
large over everything Battleroar has done. To its
credit, Codex Epicus does nothing to step outside of
that shadow, and nor should it. If you're going to be
indebted, be indebted to greatness.
In turn, "The Doom Of Medusa" would fit comfortably on a
Manilla Road album, with instantly hooky melodies
balanced against its macabre, real-world inspiration-the
wreck of the French frigate Méduse in 1816, and the
subsequent abandonment and near-total death of 147 of
her passengers and crew on an improvised raft. (These
events inspired the Géricault painting The Raft Of The
Medusa, which has been used as an album cover by bands
as diverse as funeral doomsters Ahab, Irish punks The
Pogues, and Sunset Strip cock-rockers Great White.)
"Medusa" is handily the album's strongest track, its
centerpiece both figurative and literal, and it's a fine
example of Battleroar's strengths in one convenient
location-it's epic, melodic, powerful in its historic
focus, and emotive. Gerrit Mutz' half-snarled "One
hundred forty-seven SOULS..." is edged with the tragedy
in those thirteen days at sea, while the chunky riffs
beneath help heighten the drama.
And then, the negative: Codex Epicus is held back by a
weak, unfortunately flat production that too often robs
the band's performances of the sparks truly necessary to
set the flames burning at full power, making Epicus feel
less energetic than its ambitions require it to be. Even
in its best moments, the vocals are too prominent, the
band too far beneath to really hold them up, and the
whole of it in turn lacking that certain intangible
ooomph that gets the heart unmistakably a-flutter, the
toes unstoppably a-tapping, the ears undeniably
a-pricked, and the fists uncontrollably a-waving... It's
not an insurmountable hurdle; Codex Epicus remains a
very listenable album, but it feels a bit lackluster,
like it's lacking punch, missing a stouter guitar tone
and more pounding drums, and maybe a few
beats-per-minute too sluggish, so the whole of it never
quite catches fire.
Still, production quibbles aside, Battleroar is working
from a good template, and anyone in need of an epic
metal fix should at least spin "The Doom Of Medusa" and
"Enchanting Threnody." Compared to the godlike bands
that inspired them, Battleroar is still a few steps
behind, but they're gaining ground.