By Jonny Bakes
I think it’s pretty safe to say that female fronted power is most definitely my bag, with an extensive collection including Unleash The Archers, Ancient Bards and Dakesis to name but a few. So it comes as no surprise that when a hot new band of the same ilk dropped into the ÜR office, it was down to me to suss them out and give them a listen. Elettra Storm promises to be an exciting new band hailing from Italy, which seems to be a bit of a hotbed for power metal at the moment, and features the vocal talent of Crystal Emiliani (formerly of Re-X) to bring forth this electrifying debut to prove themselves to be ‘Powerlords’.
From the first listen it’s pretty clear that this album has everything you would expect from an offering in this genre. It’s uplifting with powerful vocals and catchy choruses that undoubtedly lift your mood from the standard state of miserable apathy (we are British after all). Drums at blistering speed set the tempo for the wailing guitar solos and serious shredding which will pleas empower metal fans across the board – undoubtedly there will be a few heads a-banging to ‘Powerlords’. For me it seems that Elettra Storm feels a bit like a lite version of Ancient Bards as while there’s some power here, I think it’s still developing. It is only a debut after all so the hope is that they build on this to further develop the style and production to become a respected equal to them.
One of the stand out tracks though, has to be ‘Sacrifice Of Angels’ which makes sure you’re paying attention from the very start with some real fingers of fury guitar playing. It’s a really rapid number that makes the most of the combination of the voices of Crystal and her male counterpart Francis which is something that fans of this kind of music will be all over for sure. But for me, it was the music itself that stood out more to me, particularly the infectious rhythm that is laid down with a frantic energy that really resonated with me and got me pretty pumped – not bad for a Sunday morning!
The other track that really stood out, by design I expect, is the opening track which was dropped at the end of last year and seems to be pretty popular. ‘Higher Than The Stars’ opens with a real intent to blow your face off. I felt there was just a little bit missing in the chorus though, it feels like there is a perfect gap for some harsh vocals to repeat the last few words of the line “The greatest tale waits to be lived.” Now it may just be how my mind works but once I’d filled that gap in myself I couldn’t help but feel like the song was incomplete – despite there being no harsh vocals anywhere else in the album, and therefore probably not being Elettra Storm’s jam!
Overall, for a debut album in a small niche that is already cornered by some really strong artists, ‘Powerlords’ does a good job of capturing all the elements and setting their own baseline to grow from. Because this is a growing pains album, there does feel like there’s some room to improve and as a result I found it a bit forgettable… but then I do listen to loads of albums so there’s only so many that can take hold and stick with me!
If uplifting, powerful metal with beautiful vocals is your thing then you could do a lot worse than to give ‘Powerlords’ a spin.
- ‘Powerlords’ is out now.
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