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.