Label : Lion Music
Review by Tony Cannella
“Last Desire”, is the title of the second release by the Italian Power Metal band Mastercastle. Their first album, “The Phoenix” hinted at some great things to come for this 4-piece outfit, and with “Last Desire”, Mastercastle are definitely poised to build on the momentum and positive buzz generated by the debut. The band is fronted by the clear, soaring vocals of Giorgia Gueglio, but it is her vocals in conjunction with the guitar playing talents of Pier Gonella that really help to propel, “Last Desire”. “Last Desire”, features 12-songs and 55-minutes worth of some seriously intense, guitar driven Power Metal. The songs are a bit more straight-forward than the songs that can be found on, “The Phoenix” – which had more of a classical slant to them. The lyrics were written by vocalist Giorgia, and the subject matter of the songs are based around the meaning of the word ‘desire’, so in that sense this is also a bit of a concept album. A lot of thought obviously went into the lyrics, so it certainly makes for some interesting reading. One thing that I liked about the debut and the same holds true on, “Last Desire” is the way the individual musicians compliment each other so well. “Last Desire”, opens with a bang with the track, “Event Horizon”, just a great opening song and immediately the listener is reminded why they enjoyed the debut. Great vocals, solid guitar riffing and a cool melody and chorus, make this one a favorite right away. The next track “Misr”, features a crunchy opening riff and develops into a melodic mid-tempo, haunting track. The band also treat the listener to two instrumental tracks, “Space Trip” and “La Serenissima” are two more highlights. The final track, “Scarlett”, lyrically is based around the film, Gone With The Wind, and brings the ‘Desire’ theme to a close and the album to a great conclusion. Other highlights include: “Wild Spell”, “Last Desire” and the ballad, “Jade Star”. Pier Gonella is certainly a guitar hero in waiting as his playing is solid and consistent. If you liked the first Mastercastle CD, than this should definitely keep you well satisfied. “Last Desire” is the next logical step in the evolution of Mastercastle and is just as good – if not better – than their debut.
Rating – 88/100
Tracklist
- Event Horizon
- Misr
- Wild Spell
- Last Desire
- Away
- Space Trip
- Jade Star
- Great Heaven’s Climb
- Cat-House
- Toxie Radd
- La Serenissima
- Scarlett
Line Up
- Giorgia Gueglio – Vocals
- Pier Gonella – Guitar
- Steve Vawamas – Bass
- Alessandro Bissa – Drums
Links