Elegy of Madness - Brave Dreams
WormHole Death
Symponic/Gothic/Progressive Metal
11 songs (51:00)
Release year: 2014
WormHole Death
Reviewed by Joel
Surprise of the month
A very well played progressive metal melody starts off Italy's Elegy of Madness's Brave Dreams, first track Suad. Anja Irullo's operatic voice comes in next. She has a very strong voice, similar to many in the genre, with her own distinct voice. The song is mixture of gothic overtones and progressive metal. Stop and go rhythms, different time signatures. The heaviness to sudden slower parts, reminds me of the UK band, To-Mera. Sinner is next, it starts with an almost AOR-ish keyboard intro, that moves into a more progressive song. The song is a mid-tempo song with Irullo's vocals front and center. Some male spoken vocals are added for effect, which honestly does little for the song. For You, has some very nice guitar playing, and solid riffing from guitarist Tony Tomasicchio. Ms Irullo reaches the highest parts of her range in this song,and her voice soars. I really enjoyed the riffs in Run Away, and shows that this band is not your typical gothic/symphonic band with progressive elements. It very much reminds of later Edenbridge musically while Irullo's voice reminds me at times(throughout the disc) of Simone Simmons of Epica. The title track is next, and starts with a simple but beautiful acoustic melody. It isn't an exact copy of Epica's Higher Ground, or Nightwish's Sleeping Sun, but it is definitely up there with those songs, in sheer power and delivery. The lyrical message of hope, and living to see your dreams, is a nice touch.

The different, and somehwhat odd Red Dust is next, and its probably my least favorite track. This is the most gothic sounding song, and while the guitar riff is very cool, the song sounds like its two different song. With male vocals in the intro(and a few seconds near the last minute of the song), with Irullo's vocals throughout the rest of the song. The song is ok, but does seem like it runs longer than its almost five minute song length. Into the Tale is an instrumental that leads directly into the mid-faster tempo of The Sacred Willow. Very much how Suad opened the disc up, is how this song begins. Its another very solid progressive and symphonic song. Holding Your Hand is another ballad and again reminds me of Simone Simmons of Epica, with Irullo's vocal delivery. Passionate and varied in range, she definitely sings from her heart, with this song. Beautiful piano playing from keyboardist, Luca Basile as well. The last two songs are mid-tempo yet vary in melodies. 21st March has a more straight ahead melody, with Uomo builds upon a slower melody that starts the song. There is this strange spoken word(not sure if its almost "Cringe" worthy rapping) in the middle of the song, that made me raise my eyebrows. Other than that part, the song is ok.

While I never had heard of the band before, they have put out music since an EP in 2006. They are signed to Wormhole Death, a label I had crossed with my first review for MetalReviews. For open minded metalheads, who enjoy older Nightwish,Xandria, Epica, After Forever(basically anything with Floor Jansen) will enjoy this.

The band is Anja Irullo, voice
Tony Tomasicchio, guitars and growl voice
Alex Martina, bass
Luca Basile, cello, keyboards & orchestra
Lorenzo Chiafele, drums
Killing Songs :
Suad, For You, Brave Dreams, The Sacred Willow
Joel quoted 79 / 100
1 readers voted
Average:
 100
Your quote was: 100.
Change your vote

There are 0 replies to this review. Last one on Mon Mar 24, 2014 9:07 pm
View and Post comments