NIHIL QUAM VACUITAS ORDINATUM EST

"Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est" is the debut full-length studio album by Italian death metal act Ad Nauseam. The album was released through Lavadome Productions in March 2015. Ad Nauseam was formed in 2011 in Schio (Vicenza), Veneto. They were formerly known under the Death Heaven name and released the "Viral Apocalypse (2007)" album under that monicker before changing their name to Ad Nauseam in 2011.

Stylistically the music on "Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est" is technical death metal, which aren´t far from the abstract and dissonant technical death metal of artists like Ulcerate and Gorguts. The lyrical themes follow suit and are about the abstract, hallucinations, and chaos. There is great rhythmic variation throughout the album and the drumming is generally on a high technical level (the same can be said about the rest of the instrumental performances). The riffs are mostly open chord dissonance but there are more regular brutal death metal riffing on the album too. The vocals are low in the mix brutal growling. It´s generally structurally adventurous, quite intriguing, and unconventional music.

The album features an organic sounding production (the band emphasize that they used vintage recording methods and gear, and it´s audible), which is overall well sounding, but lacks a bit of bottom end. A bit more heaviness could have made the sound more effectful. In many ways "Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est" is a very interesting release, but seen in a broader perspective there are other artists who have released albums in a similar style with more substance and originality. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved though and "Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est" is recommendable to fans of dissonant technical death metal.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)