Label : Lion Music
Review by Tony Cannella
“Dangerous Diamonds”, the third album in as many years from the Italian power metal band Mastercastle doesn’t deviate too far from their first two releases “The Phoenix” and “Last Desire”, which in this case is very good news. Mastercastle has still retained their guitar driven power metal sound, along the clear soaring vocals of Giorgia Gueglio and the awesome guitar wizardry of Pier Gonella. For a good portion of the 46-minutes worth of playing time, “Dangerous Diamonds” just shreds, like on the first two songs “Another Flower” and “Alone”, two high energy songs with no shortage of guitar acrobatics from Gonella. My favorite moments on “Dangerous Diamonds” is when Mastercastle decides to mix it up, like on the mid-tempo “Time 4 Lovers”, this is a good song and Pier Gonella is still allowed to deliver a blazing solo that really works within the context of the track. That aside however, “Dangerous Diamonds” really packs a lot of power, energy and a bit of an old school 80’s guitar hero nostalgia on songs like “Icy Moon”, “Au Premiere Coup” and “Dangerous Diamonds”, which has an early Van Halen vibe at the beginning. The ballad “Lovin’ Me” is another one that changes things up a bit and is another favorite of mine. That is followed by the aggressive “Sixth Sun” and the heavy “Bitter & Sweet” draws things to a close. There really is not much more to say about Mastercastle. In an age where guitar heroes have become increasingly scarce, it is good to see Pier Gonella continuing the tradition. With “Dangerous Diamonds” the whole band has come together as a cohesive unit and it shows.
Rating – 80/100
Tracklist
- Another Flower
- Alone
- Time 4 Lovers
- Icy Moon
- Au Premiere Coup
- Dangerous Diamonds
- Take Off
- Blue Diamond (Instrumental)
- Lovin’ Me
- Sixth Sun
- Bitter & Sweet
Line Up
- Giorgia Gueglio – Vocals
- Pier Gonella – Guitars
- Steve Vawamas – Bass
- Alessandro Bissa – Drums
Links
MySpace * ReverbNation * Facebook