Review: 1914 - Viribus Unitis

Band: 1914
Album: Viribus Unitis 
Genre: Blackened Death/Doom Metal
Country: Ukraine
Label: Napalm Records
Released: 14th November 2025

Introduction

It is time for the grim reaper to once again swing his scythe over the battlefields of World War One as Ukrainian band 1914 deliver their fourth album - Viribus Unitis. They’ve been on an unbreakable streak of three for three on impressive albums that depict both honourable and lamenting tales of the Great War, the war to end all wars and was supposed to make us say “never again”.

Viribus Unitis

Emma; Of course, as we know today, it ended in nothing. History repeats itself over and over and over again. While this album tells the story of a soldier from Lviv fighting for the Austro-Hungarian Army thrown into the meat grinder of war over a century ago. It, of course, reflects what atrocities are still ongoing every day in our modern world.

After the mandatory War In that we have come to expect by now, we are bombarded by a blitz of blast beats to throw us right into the depths of the start of the war with 1914 (The Siege of Przemyśl). This song sets us up for the first half of the album, being an absolute onslaught of nigh-on unyielding, vicious, blackened metal. This continues through into what is quite possibly my favourite song on the album at the current moment.

1915 (Easter Battle for the Zwinin Ridge) and holy hell what a song this is. It is brutal, intense, and something to absolutely behold. It does contain some more plaintive and slower sections to give a moment of breathing room, before a choir of male voices chants. The militaristic snare rolls accompanying the Ukrainian choir makes you feel like you are marching into war itself, whether it is with emotions of pride or with apprehension. This whole final section is incredibly grand and a few moments you can really lose yourself in. Finishing off with “Це моя земля” as a mantra, “this is my land” bringing forth the theme of then and now not only for this soldier but also for the band themselves.

This album is very front-loaded with intense songs, an absolutely relentless beat akin to the machine gun fire of a Vickers or an MG-08 firing over your heads from 1914 through to 1917. 1916 (The Südtirol Offensive) Isonzo Front is probably the biggest example of this, with the bombardment of pounding instrumentation akin to an ongoing offence by itself. Also, 1917 (The Isonzo Front) is ferocious as our soldier commits savage acts in the name of war, perfectly contrasting the following tracks of war. 1918. “The river of death” being screamed out into the void, again wonderfully opposing the gentle guitar section that readies us for what is upcoming.

The tone shifts drastically to a more dour state as our soldier becomes injured from a chaotic battle, getting wounded by a grenade before becoming a prisoner of war and needing to escape across this three-part track. Right from the start of Pt. 1: WIA (Wounded in Action), there is a much more doomy feel to the track as guitars are seemingly getting these slow heavy riffs punched out of them. It builds up intensity throughout and becomes an overwhelming wall by the end as a heavy sense of despair overcomes you. The absolute guttural scream of “Bloodlust” as we reach the crescendo of this piece, into the chilling closure just having “Shellshock” repeated over and over as the wails and screams in the background create a piece of anxious horror.

This atmosphere continues through Pt. 2: POW (Prisoner of War) and Pt. 3: ADE (A Duty to Escape), tracks filled with absolute dread and frightful restless terror. “This must be the last war we fight for many years to come”. They act to provide a slower pace, still intense and fierce but in a different direction to the first half of the album.

Our guest vocals from Aaron Stainthorpe (My Dying Bride, High Parasite) are absolutely haunting and powerful as the futility of war and weight of death bears down upon our dear captive soldier. “I will always remember you comrade” being growled out as he realises his brother in arms Frane Hribar is no longer alive has such a bleak and bitter sting to it, and absolutely gut-wrenching as a result.

The change of tone between the two halves of the album seem to me to reflect a soldiers' attitude in war. From pals, battalions of young men who signed up together under the promise that they'll be fighting side by side with their friends in a war that will be over by Christmas. To being all alone and shellshocked in the sodden trenches. Everyone he knew had perished in battle.

For our soldier, the war is seemingly over in a tragic fashion as the final song 1919 (The Home Where I Died) plays. Opening with an almost more experimental electronic soundscape and beautiful piano work, it features solely clean solemn ballad-like vocals. The lyrics are bittersweet as he is reunited to his family, but only in his dying dreams - it is tormenting and incredibly poignant as he heads back to Ukraine. “The war that never ends”.

And with our War Out period piece playing us out, we are done. Or in my case, I hit repeat and relive the history again and again in a morbidly ironic fashion, perhaps.

KingG; Viribus Unitis is the first release from 1914 since the awful Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 1914 has not been silent about the struggles both they and their fellow countrymen have faced since then.

There is no hiding the emotions inflicted upon one by the horrors of war. So, there's no surprise that 1914 has put that emotion into their music, making Viribus Unitis one of the more aggressive-sounding albums 1914 has created.

A thought-provoking adventure lies within every album that 1914 has made. Great storytelling transports you back to the Great War through lyrics, historical audio clips, and the horrors from the battlefield. 1914 clashes it all together for total war. Viribus Unitis is no different, but the release has a bit less use of war sound clips. Those were heavily used on my personal favorite album, Eschatology of War. The use of a choir is instead more present and makes for beautiful sentiment in between the rapid-fire blackened death metal of 1914.

Conclusion

This album is absolutely monumental as a concurrent concept album about one man's journey through years of hardship and horror. It displays indomitable spirit and unwavering hope in the barbaric and heinous warfare surrounding not only him, but his squad mates, friends, family, and innocents in everyday bloodshed. Never again, if only.

BMZ rating: 8 out of 10

Your thoughts on Viribus Unitis by 1914

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