Lightbringer

Another Italian band is about to get out of the shadow and join the great True Metal family with their second opus : Lightbringer. The first thing that stuck me was the artcover... wahooo !! It's been a long time since I saw such wonderful and original image, congratulations to the artist ! As for the music, it certainly bears it's name correctly because the music is power meets symphony. The female vocalist (Michela d'Orlando) reminds me of Nightwish, but let's be realistic she's far behind Tarja of course. But still the music has a Nightwish touch that's for sure... even though it may not be intentional since the band started in 91 and had a demo tape in 95. Some resemblance with Rhapsody as well... but of course the quality is not yet to be compared to these 2 giants... not yet. The production is very good and the album is holding on the same tone all along, no boring moments and the keyboard is nicely used on some songs, adding a very nice Celtic atmosphere to the overall. Some improvements would be welcomed in both voice and arrangements... and also more music cause this album is a bit short... and it would be nice if they would use an orchestra for the symphonic part, therefor it would probably add a big plus and why not rival with Rhapsody... so a very good surprise indeed. For all Nightwish / Rhapsody fans, this one is for you !