vote
6.0
- Bands:
ETHEREAL FLAMES - Duration: 00:39:22
- Available from: 04/23/2024
- Label:
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Sliptrick Records
The Ethereal Flames are a group from the Marche region who present themselves to the general public for the first time with “Myths And Legends Of Our Land”, an eight-track full-length completely dedicated – as can be seen from the title – to the folklore and myths of our country; focusing, obviously, on the regions straddling the Umbria-Marche Apennines.
The debut album is presented as a symphonic power work very close to the sounds proposed by bands like Wind Rose or Powerwolf, and characterized by all those flavors that have made this genre famous such as powerful voices, aggressive guitar riffs and keyboards, lots of keyboards .
The most striking aspect while listening is the fact that each track of the album is packaged and proposed as a story in itself, bringing to music historical or fantastic events belonging mainly to the (central) Italian Middle Ages: we therefore have for example ” The Queen Sibilla” where the witch Sibilla is elevated to the role of queen by pounding drums and a solemn and ecclesiastical organ that acts as the carpet for a thick and profound singing performance.
“The Witch Of Farneta”, for its part, narrates the sad story of Donna Laura di Farneta, a herbalist accused of witchcraft by one of her fellow villagers, and in which young Laura’s poignant defense speech is punctuated by the sound of a guitar acoustic, on which the protagonist attempts a desperate defense of her life in front of the flames of the stake, giving an intense and absolutely reflective musical moment.
The most interesting piece of the album is perhaps “Metauro’s Battle”, a song that narrates the decisive conflict that occurred near Urbino during the Second Punic War and opens with a synth accompanied by a ferocious metal ride, pushed even higher by a beautiful growl that acts as an interlude and showcases the versatility of frontman Alessandro Binotti, in an overall listenable and pleasant piece.
“Myths And Legends Of Our Land” is a pleasant debut work, which however leaves a bittersweet aftertaste and hides a potential partially expressed by a group that has only now begun its growth journey. The proposed album is original and well structured, if you analyze it in terms of the lyrics and the themes covered, but it is unfortunately undermined by some technical defects that deserve more careful polishing.
The vocal parts, although convincing, contain imperfections and sometimes one gets the impression that the singer Binotti has asked a little too much of his own voice, while the guitar department, although solid from a rhythmic point of view, loses its bite in the solos that result sometimes confused and, especially in the faster parts, a little smudged.
Due to these sporadic imperfections – absolutely physiological in a group at their first recording experiences like Ethereal Flames – we feel like evaluating the band’s debut album as a sufficient work, produced by musicians with a potential that we can’t wait to see. see it fully realized in future releases.
