Yngwie Malmsteen
Magnum Opus

In a recent survey about the ugliest covers in the history of metal, the cover of Trilogy ranked in an honorable and bronze third place. However, the promoters of this amusing initiative seem to have missed the cover of Magnum Opus. Leaving aside Malmsteen in a King Arthur version, which will surely create sleepless nights for many, what strikes me is the enviable silhouette that the Swede boasts, complete with a wasp waist, especially considering that I don't recall Malmsteen being slim since the times of Trilogy. Miracles of digital photography? Wanna Marchi's creams? Who knows, but since it's the music that's of interest to the visitors of this site, we must see if the Malmsteen – Wasp will manage to sting the unsuspecting listener.

The previous works, Fire & Ice and The Seventh Sign, wavered between highs and lows, while still maintaining that dignity which one must expect given the glorious past. This Magnum Opus, on the other hand, presents itself as a sort of carbon copy of the previous album, The Seventh Sign, reprising its themes, impressions, and especially defects, to the point where one cannot tell where the copy ends and the carbon begins. The opener "Vengeance" reminds me of the opener of Seventh Sign, "Never Die," a stylish track and nothing more, in which the Swede enjoys quoting the unattainable Rainbow of Blackmore's memory. "No Love Lost" and "The Only One" (from which a video will be made), are the classic potential chart hits, pure melodic hard rock tracks, which the Swede places in every album, yet lacking the necessary class to top the charts. The album continues without any surprises with two mid-tempo tracks, "Tomorrow’s Gone" and "Vodoo," which can aspire to nothing more than fillers, while the best moments are surely the instrumental "Overture 1622," a two-part piece for which a great educational video is available online, and the fast and powerful "Fire in the Sky," which represents the Malmsteen we would always like to hear: rich in neoclassicism and ethos.

The remaining tracks deserve no mention, placing themselves in a hypothetical limbo between mediocre and adequate. The most severe flaw of Magnum Opus is the lack of inspiration, which forces our artist to retrieve some past elements and adapt them to new needs. It is not originality that one expects from Malmsteen, however, it is legitimate to expect greater impact and care for the final product. In conclusion, although it does not cause a scandal, the album represents a step back compared to the already not exciting two previous episodes. The glory days of Trilogy seem like a distant memory.