This is the first full length by Zaburon, a band hailing from Italy. In 2001 they already released a promo, which is unknown to me, but this did not lead to singing to a label so “Sic Bellum Incipit” is released by the band itself.
”Sic Bellum Incipit” which means something like “Thus, war/battle begins” starts with a keyboard intro which leads the listener into thinking this will be a melodic black metal album but when the first real track starts this thought is quickly disposed off.

Zaburon plays some kind of metal which lies in the realm of death metal but with also some trash and speed metal influences. The tracks are packed with loads of tempo and rhythm changes, which is a bit disorientating upon first listening. After a few spins it becomes clear that we have some skilled musicians here at work but that the songwriting skills are a bit lacking.

When I read in the bio that composer/guitarplayer Luca Zanardi is classically educated it all made sense to me; he’s just showing off his education.

The music is without a doubt experimental and adventurous but at the same time it’s a bit monotone to hear almost 40 minutes of Zaburon’s music. The constant shifting of rhythm and pace makes it near impossible to really ‘get’ into the music, the grunt is just not powerful enough and the dry, clinical production doesn’t add to the atmosphere either.

For one or two tracks “Sic Bellum Incipit” is very entertaining but after that boredom takes over as the same trick is repeated over and over again.
I really think that these guys possess the necessary skills to write some memorable songs and I would urge them to do that in order to obtain the desired record deal.