Adramelch
Broken History

Sometimes they return, and in the case of this review, it can only be a good thing... who are we talking about? About a group unknown, perhaps, to many, but that has contributed a lot to Italian metal: Adramelch.

Born in 1986, the Milanese band immediately stood out with the 1987 demo "Irae Melanox" for a style that, while evoking the progressive moments of Iron Maiden, was very personal and original; in less than a year after the demo's recording, they released their first vinyl, also titled "Irae Melanox," which, despite being of great quality, did not meet public favor, which was then more oriented towards a Metallica-style thrash sound.

It was 1998, followed by a long silence of 17 years until a four-track demo surfaced in 2005: "Broken History," which, as you might expect, soon became a full-length, also within the same year.

Expectations, at least among the group's fans, were very high, given the value of the previous album; so what can be expected from one of the pillars of Italian metal? A shift towards a more modern sound derived from Rhapsody or Labyrinth that's so fashionable in Italy? No, absolutely not; in fact, the music remains consistent (as a philosophy) with what it was 19 years ago, naturally with more modern sounds, but without altering its purest essence.

We start with the 31 seconds of arpeggio of "Fantasia I", a delicate opening track that introduces us to the first real song "I'll Save The World", an epic piece with doom and progressive tones of great impact. It's pleasing to notice how Vittorio Ballerio's good voice hasn't aged at all, remaining deep and extremely personal, absolutely in line with what one could hope for. "Cluny Calls", the second song of the album, continues more or less where the previous one ended, "coating" us with fast guitar riffs and an industrial quantity of double bass: the song reminded me closely of, among other things, the epic doom of our Doomsword, less vocally exaggerated, thus remaining slightly more sober.

"Choral Prelude" is the second instrumental track found on the record, also functioning as a prelude to the title-track, where once again epic reigns supreme, this time without influences from other musical genres. It continues with the solid "Beloved Jerusalem", a piece endowed with great feeling and wonderful bass lines, and the semi-ballad "Heap Of Bones" rich in pathos and greatly interpreted by a sublime (allow me all these praises) Ballerio. Also praiseworthy in this last track are the guitar lines, slightly distorted and contributing significantly to enrich it all.

We return to epic-doom with "Dethroned In Shame", which, while adding nothing special to the album, still presents itself as a quality piece, very “in your face”, also featuring a nice guitar solo about halfway through. "Darts Of The Wind" alternates faster moments with much more delicate ones, adding another valuable piece to a high-quality album. We return to heavy pounding with "Different Times Different Places", which ties back to what was heard in the II and III tracks but with slightly less pleasing results, due to a not too engaging melody.

The recited piece "Declained Prelude (The Bread And The Water)" thus transports us to the last song of the CD "Ten Wiles (Much More Than Begged Mercy)", where Adramelch unleash all their progressive vein, showing they can craft complex rhythms and melodies without ever becoming cloying or annoying.

A very welcome return then, for the Milanese band, hoping that this time it won't be another 15 years before we see a follow-up to this "Broken History."

Tracklist

1) Fantasia I

2) I ll save the world

3) Cluny Calls

4) Choral Prelude

5) Broken History

6) Beloved Jerusalem

7) Heap Of Bones

8) Dethroned In Shame

9) Darts Of Wind

10) Different Times, Different Places

11) Declained Prelude (The Bread And The Water)

12) Ten Wiles (Much More Than Begged Mercy)

13) Conclusion