I
have great respect for the Italian
power metal scene, but unfortunately
I can’t say the same for the
progressive metal one. Undoubtedly
the Italians gave numerous prog-rock
gems in the 70s, but their metal successors
failed to impress us, with a few notable
exceptions of course. Nevertheless
"Flaws of Elation" is the
debut full length album of the Italian
band Ashent, which stands between
these two worlds. So what side prevails?
Neither side is the one that wins,
because Ashent have found an ideal
balance between these two genres and
have customized with their very own
identity. The atmosphere is very dark,
despite the melodic lines and the
beautiful orchestrations. This darkness
has been achieved by a slight and
underground use of growling vocals
that assist the clean ones. There
isn’t any vocal battle going
on here, but a careful use of harsh
vocals under the main (clean) track.
As previously said this creates a
dark and "spooky" atmosphere
that helps Ashent make their mark.
The band made a decision of critical
importance in 2003. They hired the
American vocalist Steve Braun and
managed to get rid off the usual drawback
of Italian bands, which is the accent.
But Steve Braun has added even more.
He is a very talented vocalist, with
a very wide range of abilities that
made me wondered why he wasn’t
employed by some serious American
band. The same goes for the rest of
the members. As a progressive metal
band that respects itself they provide
a robust and skillful performance.
The composition level could be higher,
but there are only a few tracks, which
fall out of the expectations that
every power/prog metal fan has nowadays.
They seem that they have incorporated
very well their influences, either
they come from power metal (US oriented
mainly), or from progressive metal.
They are very confident in what it’s
doing and this gives hopes for even
better things. I would ask for an
improved production, which holds some
degree of "digitalness"
(an inherent ingredient in the Italian
power metal DNA), but in general the
level is quite high. In conclusion
"Flaws of Elation" is a
very good demonstration of prog/power
metal that it is suggested to the
fans of the genre. |