Wow! I've been listening to this album for the past 2 weeks and am hearing new things upon each pass. Matt DiFabio's vocals are probably the key drawing factor for me here. Don't get me wrong, his and John Ruszin's guitars, Jeff Kalber's bass and Acacio Carvalho's drumming are exactly what this band need to allow Matt's dynamic vocal ranges to be put through their paces.
Opening track "Diabolical" starts with a drum salvo and extremely tight guitar riffing. The vocals at this stage appear to be your typical death metal fare, but as soon as the guitar lead ends, the emotive clean vocals allow the music to mellow a little to make the original battery sound more extreme. "What Have I" has a very Sanctuary feel to it, perhaps that's the Warrel Dane like pitches that are reached on the high notes, but that's not to say that the extreme low growls aren't very Maurizio Iacono or even Ross Dolan in their aggression or tone.
Taking things more down a doom-death path, "The Wake of Betrayal" has a hypnotic sustained guitar and an even more hypnotic lead solo under and over the layered clean and death vocals. With a far more upbeat drum attack "Hands of the Wicked" bounces around happily, while the harmonic vocal track sends shivers down your spine as juxtaposition to the death growls. Far heavier, and with a title like "Leviathan Smiles" could you expect otherwise, the kick drum is unrelenting and crushing guitars are required to bear the load. I've read that "Auctioneer of Souls" has 20 guest guitarists lending their fingers to this 10 minute instrumental opus, and each lead is unique enough in style and composition to make that perfectly credible.
There are some gothic undertones to "Letting Go" and for some reason the song reminds me a bit of Crematory in the way it's both heavy and slow but melodic at the same time. Continuing down the gothic road "Samsara" is very Dark Tranquillity-esque in both the melodic nature and slides back into aggressive riffing with King Diamond-esque vocal screeches. "Echoes of the Past" ranges from soft rock to blast beats, but somehow it doesn't sound contrived when it's something you're getting accustomed to throughout the album. There are CD Bonus Tracks in the form of a Death cover "Spirit Crusher" featuring King Diamond guitarist Matt Thompson and an old track "The Hurt That Never Ends" from their 2004 album 'Behind Eyes Of Hatred'.
I guess this may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it certainly worked for me by giving me both the extreme aggression I enjoy, along with the melodic components that I love.
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Marco Gaminara
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