Astral Domine: Arcanum Gloriae

Produced by the band (formed around lyricist Luca Gagnoni,) with mixing and mastering duties performed by Andrea De Paoli (Labyrinth, Vision Divine) at Multimedia Sound Studio, Arcanum Gloriae is the debut album from the Rhapsody (of Fire) influenced Italians. It takes just two minutes and fourteen seconds of the introductory opener to mention dragons so it is pretty obvious what territory we're in here. Guest appearances by the real Fabio Lione (Rhapsody Of Fire, Vision Divine, Hollow Haze) on the song "Where Heroes Die" and Giuseppe "Ciape" Cialone (Rosae Crucis) on the "Falsi Dei" accentuate the major problem with the album. Can you guess what it is?

That's right! It's the colossal lack of originality. Even in a genre not known for pushing the envelope this is perfunctory stuff. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, it's totally fine but I've heard every note before. Take for instance, the extended guitar workout in "King of North", if I'd never heard Rhapsody I'd probably think how wonderful it is but I have heard Rhapsody…many times and if I wanted to hear them some more I'd actually choose to listen to Rhapsody. According to the fine people at Bakerteam Records, "The beautiful artwork was created by Italian graphic artists Dooms and is inspired by the epic scenery of the Game of Thrones series." Perhaps the music should be more important and next time and there should be a next time as the potential is there, let's be more original shall we?

Track listing
01. Arcanum Gloriae
02. Holy Knights
03. King of North
04. Moonlight
05. Tale of the Elves And Pain
06. Where Heroes Die
07. I Am the King
08. My Lord
09. Welcome to My Reign
10. Falsi Dei

Added: March 24th 2014
Reviewer: Simon Bray
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 2178
Language: english

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