vote
7.0
- Bands:
PERSEUS - Duration: 00:44:23
- Available from: 04/19/2024
- Label:
-
Escape Music
Streaming not yet available
A few years have passed since the Brindisi-based Perseus released their second full-length, “A Tale Whispered In The Night” (in 2016 to be exact), but now the third album, entitled “Into The Silence”, has finally arrived. For this new work, the band makes a rather singular choice, that is to have the singer Antonio Abate duet in almost all the songs with other singers, chosen from among the protagonists of the Italian metal scene.
This certainly means giving greater prestige to the album, however, on the other hand, it inevitably shifts the focus more on the presence of the guest on duty rather than the style and musical proposal of the band, especially since the songwriting is strongly anchored to power metal very 90s, influenced by Italian bands like Labyrinth, Vision Divine, Rhapsody Of Fire, Eldritch – but also foreign ones like Stratovarius or Kamelot, just to name a few. Furthermore, we observe how the guests themselves, in their groups, despite perhaps having these same or other influences, have tried or are trying to emancipate themselves by proposing a more personal and less derivative style, while from this point of view, this time, Perseus have not particularly convinced us .
Beyond this aspect, the songs are valid and, as we were saying, enriched by the presence of the numerous guests. After the usual instrumental intro, we immediately get off to a great start with the title track, where the presence of Roberto Tiranti (Labyrinth) on vocals and Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere) on guitar stands out. Another typically power piece is “Strange House” with Wild Steel (Shadows Of Steel), while something folk is discernible in “The Kingdom”, with Francesco Cavalieri (Wind Rose), a song where however the chorus is somewhat anthemic, a little ‘ a la Rhapsody Of Fire.
We return to a more classic power with “The Picture Of My Time”, where Abate is joined by Claudia Beltrame (Degrees Of Truth) and with “Defenders Of Light”, where he duets with Marco Pastorino (Temperance, Fallen Sanctuary, Serenity, Virtual Symmetry), with a more Maiden-style riff. “Il Labirinto Delle Ombre” marks a bit of a turning point in the tracklist, because it is a song performed only by Abate, which starts as a ballad for voice and piano but which grows to a crescendo and presents lyrics entirely in Italian. However, this is not an isolated case (nor the first in the band’s discography, just think of “Epiloge”), because there are also some parts in Italian in “I Believe In Love”, with Arja Irullo (ex Elegy Of Madness) and in “Warrior” with Damnagoras (Elvenking).
Decidedly heavier in approach is “Twilight”, with Max Aguzzi (ex Dragonhammer), while the final “Cruel Game” is entrusted to the voice of Luca Micioni of Infinita Symphonia.
In short, there’s a lot of stuff in this Perseus comeback and the songs are a pleasure to listen to; probably, if we consider “Into The Silence” as an album as a whole, the album would have worked even better with a few fewer guests, while thus, inevitably, having to mix very different singers, even though they make a clear effort to adapt , ends up being a bit heterogeneous.
However, we can also imagine the pride and pleasure of these guys in returning after a few years with such an important cast, so we hope that this can be an authentic springboard for the relaunch of this band which seemed very promising to us. with “A Tale Whispered In The Night”, a record that had not had a sequel for a long time, thus risking reducing expectations towards them.
With “Into The Silence”, however, Perseus return involving so many musicians that it is almost impossible to go unnoticed: it is important, however, in our opinion, that this does not represent a point of arrival, but rather a new and decisive restart, also for the contribution they can actually give to the Italian metal scene.
