We go to the homeland of 'Marcela Bovio' (see his latest solo album here), Mexico with the symphonic metal band 'Elitania' which has just released its 2nd studio album 'INRI' after a very noticeable 'Templos de Cristal' in 2015. 2018 saw a major change of line up with the arrival of new singers, mezzo-soprano 'Katherine Lara' and tenor 'Marco Muñoz' and new instrumentalists' Edgar Torres' and 'Victor Hernandez' on guitars and 'Sergio Cruz' on bass, the rest of the group being composed of the original 3 members, the composer and baritone 'Cristobal Aguilar Basulto', the soprano 'Yesenia Jacobo' and the drummer 'Kevin Molina'. They continue to offer us a symphonic and epic metal with a variety in singing brought by their four registers that they use either in lyrical or in clear vocals and with instrumental arrangements mixing classical sounds brought by the keyboards and the power of the metal brought by the riffs of electric guitars. With 12 tracks for a total of 83 minutes of listening, after the instrumental introduction, usual in this style, which can be reminiscent of the composer 'Dvorjak', titles, all as melodic as each other, scroll : 'Promoteo' opens the ball with a first lyrical performance and we already make a first parallel with 'Therion' (see their latest album here); 'Aztlán' adds a layer and this time, the grandiose melody makes me think more of the Russians of ‘Imperial Age’ (see their latest album here) and the mid-tempo 'Anhata' continue in this style with beautiful choirs in the slow part while 'Cuando la Noche Abraza and Cielo' brings us back to a melodic symphonic close to 'Nightwish'. Follows the catchy 'Más allá de las estrellas' which precedes the magnificent ballad 'Samsara' which has nothing to envy to the most beautiful ballads of 'Therion' and which has a majestic chorus and powerful which give you goose bumps. The following scrolls 'Venus' which is certainly the most extreme title of the album with grawls and with a masterly rhythm section, then 'Las estrellas no brillarán jamas' which is close to a grandiose symphonic power metal with a progressive construction in several parts and which precedes the 2nd ballad 'Adiós' with a first part where piano and strings accompany a majestic lyric song, and which takes power in the continuation of the title. And it is already after 55 minutes of intense listening that we discover the dish of resistance of the album, the two parts of 'In Memorium' of about 29 minutes and which show the epic and progressive side of this group and his composer 'Cristobal Aguilar Basulto' who embark us for a saga, with first part 1, which could be described as mini metal opera, then the second which is more turned, at first, towards an epic power metal alternating growls and lyrical singing and which settles down for a more quiet part accompanied by the instruments of the orchestra and with a real opera final. In summary, although ‘INRI' will be intended certainly for a informing audience loving symphonic metal mixing classical lyric singing and the power of electric instruments, the Mexicans of ‘Elitania' have still climbed a stair and confirm with this latest album which has an extraordinary density and richness, that they are now at the same levels as the tenors of the genre... | |
