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Rating: The first time I listened to this album, I was still a "youngster" fresh from the "first kiss," grunge, crossover, and even punk, and, above all, I knew little about metal (Metallica, Sepultura at most). At first, it was power (Stratovarius, Helloween), then the discovery of new bands I was searching for, and one day I stumbled upon these Domine: I liked the cover so much (because it was deluxe), but when I inserted the disc into the stereo, after the first notes, I felt like throwing it out the window. But then, overcome by remorse, I listened to it again over time and again, until I discovered that I had in my hands not only a very good power metal album (Italian no less), but I had also discovered a band like Domine. Their career started commercially with "Champion Eternal", and continued with this second chapter titled "Dragonlord" released in 1999, which is an album of classic power metal, gritty and melodic in the right way based on the fantasy saga of "Elric of Melniboné" by writer Michael Moorcock.
But let's get to the album.
A very rich and theatrical symphonic intro introduces us to the burst of a "Thunderstorm" that starts off like lightning indeed, while the mighty lord Elric dominates all and marches triumphantly in track 3. We already understand how the Tuscan band draws influences from Manowar, Cirith Ungol, and epic metal in general, and this is evident in other pieces, for example, the following "Blood brothers' fight" and then "Defenders", dusty power epic rides where very successful guitar phrasing blends into the symphonic structure of the compositions, creating a sound that is now gritty, now more melodic.
Mars declares war in track number 6, and here the events along with the music become more dramatic as we move towards the end. The final epilogue is the war for the magnificent Excalibur ("The battle for the Great Silver Sword"), a suite divided into 7 parts, each one more beautiful than the other, where it is noticeable that the "Florentines" not only know how to play but also have a good taste for having structured musically such a suite. I find no negative notes that belong neither to this disc nor to Domine in particular, but perhaps if something trivial must be said, I would say that at least on the first listens, the sound of the disc seems a bit old, a bit musty and thus like something already seen, but then after careful examination, interesting elements suddenly emerge such as the melodies of the solos, the keyboard corpus, the drum and bass thundering, and last but not least (indeed very important) the fantastic voice of Morby, a singer endowed with an amazing vocal range. So what are you waiting for! Get this album and enjoy the rest!
bye folks
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