REVIEWS

BRUTAL 'ZINE - ECUADOR.
Issue 2, august 2000

"From the middle of the world come to us the first totally self-produced CD from an equatorian metal band. It's not common our bands' globalization, but this is the excepction and the flag to show our metal to the rest of the world. Production is totally professional, starting at the recording sessions and the mix, to the mastering and graphic design, both made in USA. A work never done before in our lands, and with a higher grade of merit if we remember that everything was done by the band members theirselves. Well, musically the quality is undeniable. The musicians have been into the underground scene for a long years ago "wasting their time" in another shitty bands, but was in early '96 when born as a project and join their talents to unleash this wild and cruel masterpiece. "Frugativi... " blends wisely the violent and impious black metal attack in the nordic vein, with the barbaric and savage Brutal Death assult in the american way. Bloody guitars which are dirty and ripping at the same time, but also with virtuoso technical skills; riffs that harmonize perfectly with octaves, harmonics and other fine resources; at soloing interchanging, Devilucifer goes crazy with tremolo bar at higher frets, while Muerto prefers hardly learned exotic scales and extremes bends. The bass is dinamic and standouting throughout the CD. The drums, played by a session member, comply, but saying the truth don't impress me. What deserves a special review maybe the vokills, it can be the best perfomance from the record; Zephyr does at the same time a supreme and inhuman gutural voice, and an unholy and unmercyful high pitched screaming, passing by a third, spoken the viking way. All of that adorned with ultra blasphemic and sacrilegiuos lyrics sung in english, latin and inverted spanish. Perhaps the one bad point is the fact that there's only 30 minutes of music in seven tracks, but for many others it will be exact an precise. All and all, is a highly decent old school Black/death metal, with influences from acts like ANCIENT RITES, SARCOFAGO, VITAL REMAINS, ACHERON, MORTUARY DRAPE, MISTYFIER, VARATHRON, etc. A righteous blackender blast for all of those who are like clowns with their daubed faces and playind stupid weird instruments. Ah! Although, it includes Intro & Outro with female voice for who likes the trendies..."(4/4)

ANCIENT CEREMONIES - PORTUGAL
ISSUE No. 5, Summer 2000

"What have we here? A black metal band? No!! A death metal band? No!! It's a fine blend of both, it's wandering in the most putrid places of both styles of metal. There are times where we are hearing brutal death guitar riffs with growling vocals, others where it's used grim vocals in the purest norwegian black metal style. One thing is for sure, Liber Spirituum has a very raw kind of music! Perhaps the production could be better, but this is a self realesed CD (the band calls it a mCD sometimes, but if all full-length albums out there has 29 minutes...) and perhaps the money wasn't enough, or the band wanted this way! There are good times in this CD, but for me the band needs to crete a little bit more interesting songs. What really amazed me at first was the good cover thas this CD has... but what counts is the music. Sometimes really nice covers are a disguise for crappy music, gladly this is not the case!!" (3,5/5)

TARTAREAN DESIRE WEBZINE - Sweden
February 2001 Vincent Eldefors

"Liber Spirituum is a band from Quito, the capital of Ecuador, playing a weird mix of black metal and doom metal with both painfully slow passages as well as faster ones. Of course there are the traditional screechy black metal vocals here and there but most of the vocals are among the darkest growling ones I have ever heard, close to the Evoken sound. Melody plays an important role in their music and they seem to be skilled musicians, handling their instruments well and deserves to be noticed by a label. Except for Brazilian bands this is the first band I“ve ever heard from South America and it is nice to see that even in Ecuador there are people ready to fight the authority of the Catholic Church. It is a pity that the production is rather poor (but extremely good for being self-produced in Ecuador!) since this is a band with a promising amount of talent and with the backing of a label I think they could do really well. Lyrically the band is very much inspired by Anton Szandor La Vey and his Satanic verses. Finally I want to say that the intro is a very beautiful one. The album was recorded in 40 hours at Pentagrama Studios at Summer Solstice 1999, produced by the band, engineered by Mono and Guillo, mastered at DDM Studios, New Jersey, USA. As I“ve already said this band deserves a better production, period." (Rating: 3.5/5)

HIMNOS RITUALES DE GUERRA Web Zine/Radioshow - Columbia
Edition 8 (February 2001)

"The raw South American sound is combined with the American Death brutality, the Greek Black Thickness, and some Nordic Black. It maintains the right doses, but Death Metal stands out. Production is very raw, giving power and darkness to the sound. Some songs display wickedly high levels of intensity. Zephyr is a maniac singer but he should explore the guttural side a little more. It would enhance the raw sound of the band. Liber Spirituum is another exotic band ready to deliver memorable extreme works. They just need to tighten their sound and get their influences straight. Keep an eye on this promising newcomer out of the Ecuatorian Underground scene, Which by the way, they totally hate. For more details check a short interview we have with the band. I almost forgot, the C.D. cover is excellent." (Himnos Rituales de Guerra 9.5/10)

ACERO Mag. - Ecuador
Issue No. 14, April 2000

"It's mandatory to congratulate those who challenging troubles and limitations very well known in our media, succed releasing an independent work with a very favorable act in its production. Although LIBER SPIRITUUM born "surprising" to the closeminded equatorian scene, we have to say that their members formerly appear in previous bands, as their both guitarrists from Fear; we say that because is unique the style that they show their in their rhythm and soloing. Labeled as how they say Black-Death Metal, their sound goes more to the second, with very heavy passages.
It“s not usual that our bands use english in their lyrics, but for L.S. is the way the follow. The CD got very interesting tracks like "Fuck you Christ" or "Another World", where blasphemy seems to rule. Despising some little failures in the mixing, the final product is very reliable and it will be for the liking of whose are always awaiting for a new domestic with international quality work." (8/10)

"What the fuck is that????.Pure blasphemy like old times.Wonderfull.!!!!..."
Silvio Novelletto Jr., D.J. from Radio Star Sul FM 102,9 MHZ, Sao Paulo - Brazil

"...Raw, unholy, brutal blackened death metal, played with a loose old school feeling!..."
James McIntyre from Battle Hymn Recs.; Columbus, OH, USA

"...Certainly "Frugativi" is crowded by disonant guitars of industrial measures, hiperaccelrated rhytms and pitiless unmercyful lyrics, not for newcomers in the scene..."
Locky Perez, from "Cuadrenos del Rock", Guayaquil-Ecuador, February 2000 Issue

"...What a cool band is yours!!! Total might and darkness! Like in 'Another World' track; occcult power!... "
Humberto Algarķn Echavarrķa, from Oso Negro Recs, Bucaramanga-Columbia

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Devilucifer Playlist:
1.- HYPOCRISY - Obsculum Obscenum
2.- IMPALED NAZARENE - Ugra Karma
3.- SAMAEL - Ceremony of Opposites
4.- ANCIENT RITES - The Diabolical Serenades
5.- SANCTUM REGNUM - Damned Tomb
6.- ROTTING CHRIST - Thy might contract
7.- ACHERON - The rites of the black mass
8.- VARATHRON - His majesty at the swamp
9.- BELPHEGOR - Blutsabbath
10.- THOU ART LORD - Apollyon

Zephyr Playlist

Rhadhamanthuss Playlist
1.- MORTIIS - Crypt of the wizard
2.- THY SERPENT - Forests of witchery
3.- DEVIL DOLL - Dies Irae
4.- EMPEROR - Reverence
5.- DIMMU BORGIR - Stormblast
6.- BURZUM - Filosofem
7.- THERION - Vovim
8.- OLD MAN“s CHILD - Ill Natured spiritual...
9.- NECROMICON - Realm of Silence
10.- ROTTING CHRIST.- Thy Mighty Contract

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