Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody – Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus

After a couple of somewhat stale albums, Rhapsody/Rhapsody of Fire managed to reinvent themselves near the end Luca Turilli’s time with the band. At first it was unclear as to why Turilli would leave the band to create yet another Rhapsody when his solo project brought us albums that were pretty much the equivalent of Rhapsody without Fabio Lione on vocals. The first Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody album made this reasoning quite obvious: Turilli wanted to become more symphonic, more cinematic, and more epic. For the most part, this worked on “Ascending To Infinity”. The album has its ups and downs, but is a decent, albeit worse and slightly different version of the music Turilli had previously made with Rhapsody. Unfortunately, “Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus” (I won’t be spelling that out again) takes it a step too far.

If the above paragraph seemed needlessy complicated, that’s because it was intentional. This is because it reflects the very problem with LTR’s new record: it is overly grandiose in its approach. There are so many things going on throughout this album that it feels like one giant blur. It does have all of the hallmarks of Rhapsody’s music: a wonderful, soaring high-pitched vocalist, plenty of keyboards and symphonics, and of course, Luca’s dazzling guitar work (with excessive amounts of sweep-picking). This sounds great, but in the end, it’s all fluff and no substance. There is minimal semblance of songwriting or anything memorable here. Even on a track like “One Ring To Rule Them All”, where Luca puts together a nice melody, it is immediately overshadowed by the sheer absurdity of the record. There are so many similar sounding melodies throughout the record that it is difficult to commit any of them to memory.

The worst part about all of these flaws is that they could be easily mitigated by doing two things: shortening the album, and singing in English. I’ll start with the former; at nearly 70 minutes, this album just keeps going. It’s one thing for a record to blur together because it has a lot of fast, short songs with similar riffs, but this album struggles because everything is as drawn out as it possibly could be. Just when you are awaiting a return to the chorus, a quiet interlude pops out of nowhere to add another 30 seconds. Even the original Rhapsody ran into this problem occasionally, but when they had wicked tracks like “Unholy Warcry” or “Reign of Terror”, the length wasn’t as bad. This album has no such track that you’re going to want to play over and over again. The last song is 18 minutes, but you'd have no idea because the whole album feels like one long, unending, painful song.

The other area where I struggle is that much of this record isn’t in English. Of course, this isn’t a phenomenon new to Rhapsody, but this is probably the most pervasive record of theirs in terms of lacking English. Most bands do sing better in their native language, and vocalist Alessandro Conti is no exception; his voice is much more soothing in what I presume is Italian. Unfortunately, this provides nothing to latch onto. I realize that metal is a very English-dominated type of music, and perhaps it is unfair to ask a band to sing in another language, but with music this over the top, the lack of English means that it feels like it goes on and on forever. On the other hand, one look at the lyrics of the title track, and perhaps it is best that they don’t sing in English. 

If you listen to one song from this album, you might think all of the above criticisms are harsh, but the more I listen to this record, the more it wears thin on me. It feels as though Luca wrote an album that has all of the style of Rhapsody of Fire, but none of the substance. This isn’t trying to say that Alex Staropoli was the reason for the band’s success; in fact, the new Rhapsody of Fire albums could likewise said to be devoid of the soul they used to have. The real problem is that both of these musicians ground each other, and alone, they just don’t work (or at least, not anymore; Luca’s early solo albums were fantastic). If you’re a mega-fan of Luca’s work, buy this album; otherwise, stick with the old records and pick up “Ascending To Infinity” if you’re feeling more adventurous.

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Highlight

"One Ring To Rule Them All"

Final Rating

3.0/5 or 60%. 

Written by Scott

Widower – The Unholy Oath

“The Unholy Oath” is the 3^rd EP from Austin, Texas band Widower. Ignore that thrash metal tag that Metal-Archives has placed on the band because from the opening moments of “Morose Delectation”, this is pure black metal. This means that sadistic, tremolo-picked riffs are featured prominently throughout the EP, alongside tons of blasting, and a high-pitched shriek. Though not achieving 90s-Norwegian black metal levels, the production is similarly far from perfect, yet admittedly quite fitting. This doesn’t mean that there are no traces of thrash, however. In fact, the very same track mentioned before, “Morose Delectation”, has a wicked thrashy breakdown in the latter half of the track. This is a common theme throughout the EP: most songs are dominated by black metal sounds (with slight leanings towards the more melodic side of the subgenre), yet out of nowhere, there will be something with a bit more aggression that doesn’t quite rely solely on tremolo-picking. The sole exception to this is “Unholy Force”, which kicks things off with the thrash before delving into black metal.

When the band does mix things up, the results are fantastic. Widower’s drummer shows he can move his way around a kit quite well; in his moments without blasting, he has some relatively unique cymbal usage. These sections also allow the guitars to move around a bit more. One great example where both of these elements come together is about 3 minutes into “Immortal Lament”, where the heaviest riff of the album is unleashed as a galloping force, which is complemented by perfectly synced cymbals. "The Council" stands out because it has some nice heavier riffing that brings to mind a band like Destruction.  

“The Unholy Oath” is an EP that is both well written and properly executed. The thrashier sections of the release are far superior to the black metal sections, but whether that is due to the appeal of variety, or simply my extremely strong preference towards thrash is unclear. What is clear is that Widower offers up enough of both sounds to keep all fans satisfied, making “The Unholy Oath” a valuable purchase.

Be sure to check out and like Widower on Facebook!

Highlights

"Immortal Lament"

"Unholy Force"

Final Rating

3.8/5 or 76%. 

Written by Scott

Cauldron – In Ruin

After over 3 long years, one of Canada’s best metal bands, Cauldron, has returned with their fourth record. “In Ruin” is a continuation of everything the band has done up to this point, and while it offers little in the way of innovation, it does provide everything a Cauldron fan could want. Admittedly, this is a band that is hard to hype up. They play the most vanilla traditional heavy metal that you could imagine. I’ve heard complaints of Jason Decay’s voice being uninspired, or that the music is often too slow and boring; ironically, however, it is these elements that make Cauldron stand out to me. Sure, “In Ruin” is pretty much a very tame NWOBHM-styled album with some doomy elements thrown in (excepting the title track and a few other moments, which are actually very upbeat), but where Cauldron consistently wins me over is in their ability to create an atmosphere that is unparalleled. The often-plodding sounds with laid-back vocals conjure a feeling of intense mysticism and wonder. Cauldron usually achieves this by letting notes ring out as shredder Ian Chains moves from string to string within a riff. In similar fashion, the band uses backing vocals overlaid atop Decay’s voice in the chorus of the title track, as well as “Come Not Here”, to create the same layered effect.

As with the band’s prior records, where they really shine is in memorable songwriting. “In Ruin” kicks off with most of its best tracks. As mentioned earlier, the title song, “No Return/In Ruin”, is a speedy number that gets the energy flowing, not unlike previous openers “All Or Nothing” and “End of Time”. “Empress” is the first track to achieve the ethereal quality that Cauldron oozes, and is likely to become a quick fan favourite. The following song, “Burning At Both Ends”, shows the band using faster, muted riffs to again provide variety (though the chorus shows the aforementioned ringing notes). The brilliance does not stop there, however, as “Hold Your Fire” has a marching gallop in the chorus that provides an otherwise plodding song with some vigor (note that Cauldron is one of the few bands where the term plodding is not meant derogatorily). Not every song can be as great as these four, but none are weak. “Delusive Serenade” is an instrumental that shows exactly what Cauldron’s otherworldly qualities are all about, and is probably the most entrancing song on the record. 

One area where “In Ruin” does feel a bit different from its predecessors is that the soloing seems a bit more controlled. In the past, the listener could expect to hear a solo at pretty much any moment, but the leads on this album feel much more deliberate and planned. The shredding is equally compelling in terms of quality, but I always appreciated the band’s willingness to unleash some furious fretwork at any time. Instead, it feels as though this album adheres to more standard song structures than they’ve used in the past. There’s nothing wrong with this though, because it is ultimately a very good collection of songs. And that is where “In Ruin” succeeds most. Through 4 albums, you can’t pick a single song out of Cauldron’s catalogue that doesn’t rule. This album might be very similar to the last one, but that is a testament to Cauldron’s consistency and quality, making “In Ruin” the early contender for album of the year in 2016!

Be sure to check out and like Cauldron on Facebook!

Highlights

"No Return/In Ruin"

"Empress"

"Burning At Both Ends"

"Hold Your Fire"

Final Rating

4.8/5 or 96%. 

Written by Scott

HI-GH – Till Death And After

“Till Death And After” is the second album from Italian speed metal group HI-GH. This record features a number of distinctive styles and sounds, though it is firmly rooted in the punkish speedy works of bands like Venom and Motorhead. In contrast to those two groups, however, the sound is quite a bit cleaner. The guitar tone is much crisper and easier to hear. This makes the simplistic riffs all the more effective, as you aren’t struggling to decipher what is going on. Likewise, the surprisingly proficient soloing is amplified by the clarity of the guitar playing. The comparison to Venom is most apt in the vocal approach, as HI-GH’s singer grunts and growls his way through the record. He does display the ability to hit some truly wicked high-pitched screams, but spends most of his time utilizing a lower range that doesn’t present too much variety in pitch. The rest of the band makes up for that by using plenty of melodic licks alongside their great riffs.

The highlight on this album is the ill-titled “Sex Machine”. At over 6 minutes, it is the longest song on the record, but it also has the most twists and turns. It opens with an atmospheric intro before ascending to the classic speed metal that dominates much of the record. The chorus takes a different approach as it is the first true “sing along” type song the band has done on the album. It won’t even take until the end of the first chorus for you to figure this one out. Additionally, this song has an added energy about it, making “Sex Machine” feel much more spontaneous than anything else on the record. This track also displays how awesome distorted bass is, as there is a short interlude after the second chorus. Other songs, such as the short, punky “Your Bloody Face” similarly show off the bassist’s skills. 

Even though the majority of this album features speed-tinged riffing, HI-GH is actually at their best when they lock into more rocking grooves. These are particularly prevalent when there is a harmonized guitar section (one great example is “Born Under Evil Defence”). These moments are pure feelgood metal, which other bands like Enforcer and Skull Fist also embrace. Though few and far between, it is sections like that make “Till Death And After” an even more worthy release. Regardless, HI-GH’s base sound is pretty compelling, and definitely 44 minutes well spent!

Be sure to check out and like HI-GH on Facebook!

Highlights

"Sex Machine"

"Born Under Evil Defence"

Final Rating

4.0/5 or 80%. 

Written by Scott