I think these Italians are as unknown to you as they have been to me, which is no wonder considering that this is their first demo. It contains only seven tracks, so let’s see what they have to offer:

“Sirenia” – is a rather calm start to the record, with keyboard passages and heartfelt melodies, whereas the lead-vocalist, even if he would have not been introduced earlier as such, could not hide his Italian roots, once he started singing. The other musicians prove that they are masters of their instruments, because they offer quite a good performance. After the first time, you might be only left with the chorus, but it is worth listening to it more than once.

“Warcry” – starts with the typical battle sounds and is somewhat faster than its forerunner. I even dared to hear some similarities in the vocals to the former METAL CHURCH Shouter Mike Howe. But the music is different; here one notices that the guitars could sound a bit thicker, especially because this track is more riff- and power-based. But since this is only a demo there is still the possibility (and need) to improve, but actually not a bad song.

“The Serpent And The Rose” – starts rather calmly with guitars and keyboard, then vocals and slowly turns faster and develops into a typical Power Metal track, which reveals quite a good performance, but is still in need of improvement.

“Thunderborn” – still Power Metal (with such a title it is almost predestined to be!), with this song the keyboard comes back into action, being sadly missed in the former track and in my opinion they could have used more of it even in this track, cause otherwise it remains only average.

“The Church” – with its more than six minutes, it is a quite daring venture. As I expected it begins with dragging riffing, which then stays throughout the whole song, with a keyboard-theme that is repeated over and over again…this song also needs some more work to be invested in.

“Phantom Dome” – stays on safe Power-ground and has the potential to impress endowed with a better sound. It contains some good ideas, I fancy the vocal performance, but unfortunately the keyboard-guy had his day off again.

“Odyssey” – is the last track on the demo and was written in the vein of the already presented “The Church”, but the chorus is better and musically this song is more interesting and somewhat sophisticated. The guitar work will probably stick to your ears, but sadly the vocals are not that great.

As seen and read, this record has both good and bad sides, the guys definitely have potential and with some more ripeness in the songwriting sector and some upgrades in sound and production, it could result in a really pleasant surprise. Enjoy!

(Online January 7, 2007)