When it comes to Italian symphonic metal bands, 'Temperance' tops the list, but there are many lesser-known bands that have been chronicled in myprogmusic with, for example, in the latest releases, 'Eternal Silence', 'Elegy Of Madness', 'Winterage', 'Edran' ou encore 'Walk In Darkness'. It will now be necessary to reckon with the new formation 'Agarthic' who released their first studio recording 'The Inner Side' at the end of 2021 and the transalpines are led by a duo, the bassist 'Mattia Gosetti' and the singer 'Valeriano De Zordo' who have created 'Agarthic' in 2019. Their particularity is not to be limited to classical symphonic metal but they also bring a good dose of progressive which makes them an original formation. It will now be necessary to reckon with the new formation 'Agarthic' who released their first studio recording 'The Inner Side' at the end of 2021 and the transalpines are led by a duo, the bassist 'Mattia Gosetti' and the singer 'Valeriano De Zordo' who have created 'Agarthic' in 2019. Their particularity is not to be limited to classical symphonic metal but they also bring a good dose of progressive which makes them an original formation.
On the menu of this album, 11 compositions for a full hour of music and the short start 'The Beginning of All' shows an epic face in a moderate tempo quite far from the power that is generally found in metal and vocal harmonies and the orchestral arrangements are particularly remarkable. The following corroborates this sentiment with titles like 'The Ancient Secret Scroll' which deploys catchy melodic lines, much like its successor 'A Journey To The End Of The World' (see video above) which continues on this path and the vocals of 'Valeriano De Zordo' lend themselves very well to this style which can recall the register of 'Georg Neuhauser' and the atmosphere of the first albums of 'Serenity'. Overall, the whole is like the beginning of the album with melodic mid-tempos and we can quote for example 'Through the Mystical Forest', 'Message from the Gods' or 'Back Home' with very beautiful vocal harmonies that deploy a sort of quiet force and when the rhythm picks up, the Italians offer us more varied atmospheres with titles like 'Negotations Failed' with its alternating tempos or 'Escape to Antartica' and its memorable chorus. And when the atmosphere is much calmer, the two ballads 'A Heaven Inside This Earth' (see the video here) and 'Last Journey' are pure delicacies. And it is with the long development 'Illuminati's Reign', in an epic, symphonic atmosphere and with a good dose of progressive, that the album ends very beautifully and constitutes a very good summary of the Italian style. By the way, I didn't tell you about the theme which is summarized in the 'Frontiers' press review on the album: "Agarthic's music is strongly inspired by the nature that surrounds them, in particular by the Dolomites, a mountain range in Italy. Their compositions tell fantastic stories and the mysteries of humanity, a romantic and enveloping soundtrack that will take you on a thrilling journey with cinematic flavor. "
In summary, the Italians of 'Agarthic' are releasing a very promising first album which merges symphonic and progressive metal with accessible melodic lines and remarkable vocal and instrumental arrangements and, if they continue in this direction, should quickly make themselves known and compete the tenors of the genre because everything is done to seduce a fairly large public fan of metal... | |
