Iluminato – “Reflections of Humanity” (2011)

Independent Release

Review by Tony Cannella

Brazil’s dark Symphonic/Gothic Metal band Iluminato came to fruition in 2010. The band is comprised of two full-time members. Female vocalist Liz Demier is joined by the bands founder Pablo Ferreira – who also adds Grunts and Guitars to the mix – on their debut release “Reflections of Humanity”. With a playing time of only 37-minutes long “Reflections of Humanity” is a pretty relentless slab of metal that brings forth plenty of aggression combined with healthy doses of melody. The opening track “Helm of Blindness” starts us off with a mournful violin intro before the track kicks into high gear. Female vocalist Liz Demier offers an operatic style which is offset by the guttural screams of Pablo Ferreira. The second track “Hypocrisy” brings the intensity up a notch with its brutal thrash metal style and is a track that I wanted to hear over and over again, this – in my opinion – was the best song on an album filled with such strong material. “Betrayed Soul” slows the tempo down a bit and evolves into a cool, melodic number. “Howard Beale” is next and uses an excerpt from the mid-seventies American film Network. This leads us into the pounding “Imperial Heart”. “Aurea” quickly became another favorite and it shows the diversity that Iluminato are capable of with a part ballad/part mid-tempo heavy style, the vocals between Liz and Pablo are really the highlight of the song for me. “Diana Christensen” is another intro track that uses another bit from Network and segues into the next track “Hell”. If you think with a title like “Hell” this would be one of the heavier tracks, you would be correct. “Reflections of Humanity” is brought to a beautiful conclusion with the final two songs “The Last Road” and “My Astral Home” which is a striking ballad highlighting the voice of Liz and only lasts for about 2-minutes. Despite its rather short playing time “Reflections of Humanity” definitely goes in for the kill and gets the job done. Iluminato has delivered a fine debut that should please fans of (old) Tristania, The Sins of Thy Beloved and Draconian.

Rating – 86/100

Tracklist

1. Helm of Blindness
2. Hypocrisy
3. Betrayed Soul
4. Howard Beale
5. Imperial Heart
6. Aurea
7. Diana Christensen
8. Hell
9. The Last Road
10. My Astral Home

Line Up

• Liz Demier – Female Vocals
• Pablo Ferreira – Grunts, Guitars

Links

MySpace * ReverbNation *  Facebook * Twitter  * Site