Labyrinth
Sons Of Thunder

THE REVIEW

With open arms... let this album welcome you with open arms and take you on a journey that took place centuries ago between Venice and Paris: this is "Sons Of Thunder," the third chapter (and the last with Olaf Thorsen) of the story of our Italian Labyrinth.
The album is based on the story of Louis XIV, we are in 1679 and it is precisely he who, after seeing the portrait of the young Kathryn, daughter of the Doge of Venice, falls madly in love with her: stated like this, the concept may seem uninteresting, but I assure you that thanks to an excellent ability to write lyrics and music of excellent quality, our six are able to offer us a product of superior quality.

Divided into 10 tracks, the album moves on the much-loved power/prog coordinates that characterized all of Labyrinth's early production until the definitive split with Thorsen, but let's go on to describe the tracks: The album opens with "Chapter 1," a song that starts with a spoken introduction (it is presumed that the voice plays the part of the Sun King), to which the actual song adheres, moving in speed/prog shores and presents itself rich in solos, double bass drum patterns, tempo changes, and all those elements that brought so much fame to the band with RTHD, to which is added the beautiful and crystalline voice of Roberto Tiranti. After the first song, we move on to the beautiful "Kathryn," which starts with a bass solo to which all instruments join, giving life to one of the best episodes of the album: the song is indeed varied in its form, alternating aggressive parts with more delicate ones, such as the splendid chorus. Again, the instrumental part is very well-crafted, with a great Mat on drums, creating a highly effective rhythmic section. We then arrive at the title track, a particularly fascinating song in which Roberto's voice dominates everything and everyone, accompanied by a threatening and fast sound base, rich in tempo changes and decidedly pleasant choruses. Once again, the chorus is fantastic, merging into the verse in a very peculiar way, almost as if it were suspended in air. Unique in beauty also are the solos performed by guitar and keyboard that seem to chase each other in very fast and equally precise sections. Track number 4, "Elegy," is the one that least excited me, due to a rather banal leading melody. Moving on to the 5th song, we return to high levels with "Behind The Mask," where Labyrinth shows us just how high their technical abilities are, composing a song where speed and precision are the main pillars of the track. The melody is excellent, with keyboards taking the foreground, making listening to the song more varied. Once again, Tiranti's vocal lines are splendid, surpassing himself by hitting very high notes with ease and theatricality worthy of very few singers. "Touch The Rainbow," is another fantastic power/prog song that flows by with pleasure among acoustic and electric guitars, thanks to the input given by the singer as precise as usual, but also thanks to the fantastic work of Breeze (surely if they had never adopted those nicknames they would have been perfect) and Mat, which make the song truly interesting. "Rage Of The King" is the song that leaves me quite indifferent due to an emotional coldness that, in my opinion, is unique; "Save Me," on the other hand, is beautiful, a piece that is halfway between a very fast-paced speed song and a sweet ballad in the intro but then explodes into a truly unique energy charge, exploring territories at the limits of epic but supported by keyboards with a strong futuristic taste. Thus we move on to the sweet (but not too beautiful) "Love," which shows us the softer side of metal: although the song is not particularly brilliant, it showcases the vocal/theatrical abilities of the excellent singer (sorry I know I'm repeating myself, but unfortunately it's true... Roberto is too good), who draws charming vocal lines. A good song but nothing more, leading us to the last track, and classic piece of Italian music: "Ti Sento" by Matia Bazar, here proposed in an English version ("I Feel You") that hardly deviates from the already beautiful original song. Praiseworthy is the intent to keep the Italian phrase "mi ami o no", composed of the song's main words.

In conclusion, the album in question is undoubtedly a great product, hindered by two songs not quite up to par, but also by a truly lousy production that did not help the album's true beauty blossom, and this was and still is a real pity.