Label : Ravenheart Music Records
Review by Tony Cannella
Italy continues to be a major contributor to the Metal world, especially where operatic, symphonic metal is concerned. One of the latest is Silent Opera who have just released their debut album “Immortal Beauty”. Prior to releasing “Immortal Beauty”, Silent Opera also released a 5-track demo in 2008 and have since been signed to the burgeoning label Raven Heart Music. Silent Opera offers the listener a 54-minute ride with “Immortal Beauty” as the album displays a lot of heart and passion. “Mask Manor” kicks things off with a symphonic intro before the band joins in and helps to turn this into a powerful, fist pumping opening track. Vocalist Victoria has an ultra-operatic voice which offers a nice presence to the music. The lyrics are fantasy based and you can pretty much understand Victoria throughout most of the CD. Some ominous sounding keyboards lead us into the pounding “Chapter 7”. Victoria’s vocals are really the main focus point here as she really lets it rip on this track. The next track “Morningstar” opens with a traditional metal riff, but also includes symphonies and a choir. “Lilium” has a dramatic quality to it. This was one of the true highlights for me as the song goes through numerous tempo changes and some top notch performances by the band. The ballad “Farewell” is next and that segues nicely into some more traditional metal riffing in “Hidden Lies”. Undoubtedly the biggest moment comes with the albums closer. A nearly 10-minute epic called “The Silent Opera”. This is just a huge sounding epic that incorporates all of the positive things that Silent Opera has to offer. I would never assume that a band is influenced by this band or that, but in Silent Opera, I hear a definite Nightwish influence. Not so much with the vocals, yes Victoria has an opera style but sounds different to Tarja, musically is where Silent Opera, reminds me the most of Tuomas and crew. The music has that same thoughtfulness and drama in its writing and combines symphonic elements with traditional metal-isms to create a solid debut with “Immortal Beauty”.
Rating – 80/100
Tracklist
- Mask Manor
- Chapter 7
- Morningstar
- Lilium
- Selene
- Farewell
- Hidden Lies
- Always With You
- Introducing the Muse
- Your Muse
- The Silent Opera
Line Up
- Lady Victoria (Barbara Vigolo) – Vocals
- Rain (Marco Clari) – Guitar
- Alexandre (Davide Papa) – Bass
- Shadow (Loris Volcizzi) – Drums
Links
MySpace * ReverbNation * Facebook * Site