Being one of the first extreme metal bands in Venezuela would have been enough to cement Stratuz’ legacy. A testament to their artistry is the fact that they kept evolving. Granted, there were nearly twenty-two years between ‘Osculum Pacis‘ and its direct predecessor ‘Spirit Seduction‘, and such a long time would have changed nearly every band, but the amount of progress Stratuz made is simply impressive. ‘Osculum Pacis’ truly envelops its listeners with its dark, doom-laden atmosphere, but unlike many bands attempting a similar doom-death style, that never goes at the expense of the powerful riff work.

Stratuz was never the fastest of death metal bands, but while aspects of it have been prominent on each of their releases, ‘Osculum Pacis’ is where Stratuz first dives fully into doom-death. Guitarist Gerónimo Egea, who debuts here, simply is excellent at coming up with doom metal riffs and structuring them in engaging ways. Interestingly, Stratuz’ style of doom-death doesn’t really sound like anyone else. At times, the music is reminiscent of My Dying Bride, but Stratuz’ songs are much more concise, which helps the individual songs stand out more, and despite the presence of strings and choirs, they are not quite as gothic.

Everything on ‘Osculum Pacis’ sounds exactly as it should. The drums sound absolutely thunderous, the riffs have just the right amount of grit to them, the guitar solos are impressively melancholic, and the keys, strings and choirs sit exactly where they should in the mix without overpowering everything else. Another ace Stratuz has in its deck is the voice of Franklin Berroterán. While he employs a blunt, tortured growl for most of the album, he occasionally switches to a deep, clean baritone that enhances the emotional weight of those passages. And unlike most similar bands, Stratuz doesn’t waste time getting there.

‘Osculum Pacis’ is best experienced in one sitting, but it does have its highlights. ‘Morning Star’ works wonders as an opener, because it sets the mood of the album effectively by alternating monolithic doom riffs and atmospheric passages. ‘Caelibatus’ is carried by a fantastically dramatic riff and unfolds very dynamically, while ‘Sodomized’ is likely the most massive doom-death song here. ‘Dawn’, ‘Left’, ‘Back to the Sun’ and closing track ‘Condemned’, on the other hand, effectively explore the more atmospheric side of the spectrum through the use of clean and acoustic guitars, as well as mournful female vocals.

As much as I like some of them, many doom-death or gothic doom metal albums end up quite an exhausting listen. ‘Osculum Pacis’ does not suffer that fate, because a similar atmosphere is packaged in songs that are three to five and a half minutes long, and yet, it never feels like something is missing. In fact, no matter how riff-oriented the album is – and that is something many of Stratuz’ peers can learn a lesson or two from – everything is in service of the atmosphere the band is trying to convey. That atmosphere is bleak, occasionally oppressive, but the resulting album is extremely listenable.

Recommended tracks: ‘Sodomized’, ‘Dawn’, ‘Back to the Sun’