Label : Spider Rock Promotions
Review by Tony Cannella
Prior to the release of their 3rd (and latest album) “Dark Time”, the Italian male/female fronted power metal band Ivory Moon changed female vocalists. Gabriella Aleo brings her ultra operatic style to the outfit in conjunction with Sandro Manicone’s male vocals. Ivory Moon’s last album came out in 2007, so it has been awhile between releases. A great majority of male/female duel vocal bands use the ‘beauty and the beast’ method. That is not the case with Ivory Moon. The male vocalist Sandro has a gravelly (sort of reminds me of Andi Deris from Helloween at times), but clean metal style and as already mentioned Gabriella’s style is very operatic – and a bit over-the-top at times. Musically Ivory Moon offers the listener some nice power metal with atmospheric symphonic elements, with some good riffs, musicianship and nice melodic songs. The opening track “New World Order” is a fine opener and a good introduction to Gabriella. The next song, “New Horizons” is more of a mid-tempo song and sees Gabriella’s vocals more subdued – which I like better than her all out operatic style – although this lady can really belt it out. This is a killer track and definitely my favorite song. The next song “Darkness” is a straight-forward metal track with Sandro adopting a meaner style. I loved the chorus and melody on this song. Sandro does the majority of the singing, but Gabriella chimes in on the chorus and melody. This song accentuates the heavy guitars with only minimal input from the keyboards. “Apocalypse” is another heavy one with a great chorus and solo. As the album progresses it becomes apparent that the majority of vocals is handled by Sandro, Gabriella does a great job in a support role when she is called upon. “Heroes” is one the few songs where she handles the majority of the vocals. Other highlights: “Away”, “Soul Disguised” and “The Merchant of Venice”. “Dark Time” is 11-songs and 50-minutes worth of well played power metal. Ivory Moon is definitely improving with each album. I think the choice of female vocalists was a good one and after five years, “Dark Time” is a strong return for Ivory Moon.
Rating – 83/100
Tracklist
- New World Order
- New Horizons
- Darkness
- Apocalypse
- Away
- Soul Disguised
- Heroes
- Out of Control
- Endless
- The Merchant of Venice
- Rogue
Line Up
- Gabriella Aleo – Vocals
- Sandro Manicone – Male Vocals
- Fabrizio Zucchini – Guitar
- Davide Calisse – Guitar
- Filippo Natoli – Keyboards
- Fabrizio Sclano – Bass
- Emanuele Valabrega – Drums
Links