vote
6.5
- Bands:
NOCTURNA - Duration: 00:37:13
- Available from: 04/19/2024
- Label:
-
Scarlet Records
Streaming not yet available
In this new “Of Sorcery And Darkness”, the second work of our local Nocturna after their 2022 debut “Daughter Of The Night”, we immediately find ourselves faced with sounds we have already heard, that mixture of symphonic power and some veins of gothic metal, a mix already used and in some way abused if a feeble dark flame is not found that infuses new life.
Added to this is also the already used formula of the double female voice (the good Serena Cetra and Greta Cangelosi, present here under the pseudonym Rehn Stillnight and Grace Darkling), who divide the scene, one singing in a lyrical way and the other in a more direct. Apart from some good ideas among the solos of Federico Mondelli – here under the name of Hedon – (the mind behind bands such as Frozen Crown, Volturian and Be The Wolf), we must note that the new Nocturna album is, without much fantasia, another symphonic chapter in the vast global panorama of the genre, which will surely be well received by listeners of groups such as Within Temptation, Epica and Unleash The Archers, just to mention a few assonances of rendition.
However, what covers everything indiscriminately are the carpets of double bass drum and keyboards which now create horrifying atmospheres and captivating intros as in “Seven Sins”, now medieval, dark and occult themes, then embellished with beautiful vocal textures; however, we realize that both the rhythms (Deimos and Antares on drums and bass) and some melodies are very reminiscent of Frozen Crown (and it is no coincidence that the music and lyrics are by the aforementioned guitarist Federico Mondelli) and in the music of Nocturna a too similar imprinting between the two formations echoes, even if in this group the symphonic part that we learned to know in the first Nightwish prevails.
Ten pieces that are built to have an impact, which flow by very quickly and remain only for the intertwining of the two voices of Rehn and Grace, between easily assimilated refrains as in “Burn The Witch” and well-calibrated warbles as in “Through The Maze”. Not an essential album, which will certainly find a better presentation in the live phase because the vocal abilities are really interesting.
