Review by Carl on August 20, 2023.

A cover with the name Guillotine Terror and a reversed cross on it, that just seems tailor-made to grab the attention of any underground metalhead for sure. I did not know what to expect, but curiosity got the best of me, blindly bought it, and I'm happy to conclude that this is a killer little platter for sure!

Guillotine Terror deal in a volatile mixture of old school death metal in the way of early stuff by Massacre, Death and Morgoth, with a big helping of Disrupt, Extreme Noise Terror and Doom style crustcore thrown in, but Macabre and S.O.B. are in there as well. This is some awesome and violent stuff, driving the point home by means of pounding percussion, simple but great fuzzed-out riffing and hoarse barking vocals. Slower sections do spring up here and there, but their role is more that of a build up to the thrashing parts. The songs are short and energetic, keeping it simple and effective in their execution, and the focus stays on energetic aggression, not far-fetched musical niceties. It's certainly no high art, but it's awesome in its straightforward approach.

The production is that of a true underground product from around that time: not great, but it gets the job done. The guitars could have been louder in the mix, and the vocals a little less, but it does manage to keep the overall performance energetic enough. This type of sound mix works well with the crusty death/thrash the band has on offer, and it manages to maintain the punkish energy well enough to keep it all convincing throughout. It is a bit on the silent side, but that problem is solved by a yank to the right on the volume knob.

This is a fun little platter that has old school extreme metal and underground nostalgia neatly wrapped up in a nice package. Original this ain't, and it wasn't back in 1991 either, but the energy and awesome underground vibe emanating from this EP do the job well enough for me!

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by JD on May 15, 2013.

I thought that Quebec Technical Death Metallers Quo Vadis had a new album out and I was lucky enough to be reviewing it. Turns out I was really wrong on the band that I got. Instead of the French Canadian Technical Death Metallers that are one of the best at what they do, we have for my reviewing pleasure the Progressive Death/Thrash Quo Vadis from Poland.

Playing since 1986 seems that this band has been through the wringer as they slogged their way through the scene. Playing a maelstrom of Death/Thrash and Progressive metal, this polish four piece is a top notch outfit that knows what to do. Slashing guitars, brutal spat vocals and churning rhythms that seem to crack the very ground they walk on, Quo Vadis knows what works for them and uses it to their advantage.

The album was 48:29 of pure dynamic fury set in what sounded like quicksand. I did love songs like the driven guitars of 'Mia' and the explosive 'God', but found the sound on these tracks to be a bit muddy sounding in the places that it was not supposed to be. The other songs seemed to be afflicted by the same sound virus, creating an album that most songs sounded too alike – destroying what could be a monumental album that would rival many of the extreme metal releases out there right now.

I love Quebec’s Quo Vadis and always have, and this did not change that. Poland’s metallic sons did not impress me, and I hope that this is just a small glitch. I am going to search out the other releases from this band to listen to, and I hope that "Babel" was just and unfortunate horrendous bump in their road. I see boundless talent in the bands line-up, this album does not even try to show that in anyway.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 5.5
Production: 5
Originality: 5.5
Overall: 5.5

Rating: 5.9 out of 10