History & Biography The death/doom metal band was issued in 2014 (the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I) and quickly issued songs with names like Caught In The Crossfire and Zeppelin Raids. A debut came in 2015. The year after brought a split with Minenwerfer. Ukraine-based 1914 was working on a full-length album called The Blind Leading The Blind in 2018, which was dedicated to the 100-year anniversary of World War I’s end (1918). It was scheduled to see the light of day on November 11th, 2018. 1914’s The Blind Leading The Blind was out through Archaic Sound. The 2021 album was on Napalm Records. There was a video for the song … And A Cross Marks His Place. Live@Electric Meadow 2015 was issued independently in 2022. Where Fear And Weapons Meet Bonus LP was an odds and ends demo in 2023. The band was touring Europe with Left To Die in 2024 and reporting that it was donating money to the Ukrainian military. Drummer Rostyslav Potoplyak left in 2024.
1914 was in the studio to begin 2025 working on the successor to 2021's Where Fear And Weapons Meet. 1914 returned with a studio album, Viribus Unitis, through Napalm Records in November of 2025. There was a video for the song 1914 will return with their fourth studio album, Viribus Unitis, on November 14th 2025 via Napalm Records. Alongside the album announcement, the band also revealed their first single, entitled "1916 (The Südtirol Offensive) 1916 (The Südtirol Offensive). This album featured drummer Reich. There was an animated video clip for the song 1918 Pt 3: ADE (A Duty To Escape), which featured Aaron Stainthorpe (ex-My Dying Bride). 1914 announced The War That Never Ends European headlining tour with openers and label-mates Katla for the spring of 2026.
The band’s imagery and lyrics references historical war. It was unclear why the band could not spell out words like ‘captain’ or ‘sergeant’ however.
Reviews 1914 - VIRIBUS UNITIS - NAPALM 
War In, War Out. They are on the album and so this is still 1914, but better than 2021's album, Where Fear And Weapons Meet, for lack of banjos, bagpipes and, laughing at this, "orchestrations." So, if the offending instrumentation has (largely) been banished then what is left? Extreme death metal fortified with vigour, speed and blasting. Think a mixture of Marduk, God Dethroned and the harmonies of Amon Amarth. On the downside, to accommodate its storytelling, this story concept necessitates the group interjecting spoken word and overdubs, where this listener just wanted to hear more music. That's why you have lyrics, guys. Just keep raging instead of adding breaks and interjections. Then there is a track like 1915 (Easter Battle For The Zwinin Ridge), which is comprised of clean spoken words after a successful start and a spit or ADE (A Duty To Escape) with its gothic vocalisations. This is the common pitfall of concept albums. Speaking of which, the album follows a chronological biography from 1914 to 1919, centered on a Ukrainian soldier in the Austro-Hungarian army (The album's title originates from the personal motto of Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I in the 19th century, translating from Latin as 'With United Forces') during World War I. It traces his experience from 1914 to 1919 and the Siege of Przemyśl, Zwinin Ridge, Südtirol Offensive, captivity and return home.
The album is 57 minutes long, follows a somewhat original path with loads of metal (shrapnel and artillery?), but the Ukrainians fourth tour of duty could have offered more whole songs than offered here. - Ali "The Metallian"
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