By Georgia Smith
Alterium – born from the ashes of the Kalidia split – weave a majestic fantasy journey across the seas and battlefields with their debut album, on which the Italian power-metal quintet fronted by Nicolletta Rosselini, previously of Kalidia and Walk In Darkness, have capitalized on the opportunity to take their powerful melodic sound in a new direction; a rich narrative landscape populated with the shrieking guitars and war drums of a fantasy adventure.
Rosselini herself has enjoyed constant fame for her work, with her album Frozen Throne from 2018 boasting over 10 million streams, as well as her interests in geeky hobbies such as ‘Dungeons And Dragons’ and ‘Magic, The Gathering’ garnering her semi-regular appearances on Italian TV programme ‘Crossover Universo Nerd’. These interests, culminating in Rosselini’s performances at some of Italy’s largest conventions have doubtless had an influence on this album, which rises and falls with the narrative of a hero’s journey through war, romance, and duty. Set to the powerful, sweeping musicality of Alterium, ‘Of War and Flames’ is richly imbued with story and meaning- the duality of man, and the face of danger.
The opening track ‘Drag Me To Hell’ is immediately assured in its sound, majestic and theatrical. Utilizing choral elements means the song sinks into a warm rapidity, a sudden familiarity. The twisting, rapid style weaves an all but impenetrable metal structure over which Rosselini drapes feminine and witchy vocals. It is an immediately effective concoction, pierced throughout by technical, striking guitar solos and thrumming from underneath with the ceaseless drums. A sense of foreboding, a promise of adventure, a lyrical lament of pain and suffering that manages to be simultaneously uplifting, ‘Drag Me To Hell’ is a confident opener for this album and one which places Rosselini firmly at the forefront of its execution.
‘Siren’s Call’ follows thicker, dirtier. The track’s core is pure power metal that is able to shine through the slower vocal performance. With this track, it becomes apparent that Alterium are embracing the feminine on this album; having Rosselini’s lyrics and vocals tell the tales of feminine power, danger, and suffering- made all the more effective when juxtaposed so closely to the masculine grittiness of the sounds underneath. The bassline of this track- and indeed subsequent ones – act almost as the heart of this thick, impassioned sound, a rallying point for the rest of the guitars to elevate themselves against. They flow freely, almost liquid in the technicality as the vocals explode towards the end in a burst of feminine rage. ‘Siren’s Call’ seems to explore the duality between message and delivery, between grittiness and softness, weakness and power. To set this against a running narrative in the way that Alterium have done on this album makes it all the more striking and exhibits the richness of creation that can be achieved with such layering of meaning and execution.
Alterium build on this theatrical, almost operatic style with the inclusion of pianos and violins on the titular track ‘Of War and Flames’ and continue to punctuate the tracks with their use from this point forward. A sweeping, foreboding opening of harmony in the orchestral instruments collapses into thundering open chords and rattling drum lines, shaking the foundations of the album whilst allowing the violins to pierce the tapestry of war that has been woven. The track lives up to its title- performed in a sweeping, grandiose style reminiscent of the fantasy elements they are trying to evoke; kingdoms, wars, empires falling to ruin, whilst maintaining the dark feminine energy created through Rosselini’s lyricism and in places tortured-sounding vocal performance. Again, ‘Of War and Flames’ seems to explore the duality of softness and harshness, giving an edge of something interesting to the ever-thrashing power metal that have come to be expected of these musicians.
‘Firebringer’ seems like the introduction of a villain, with its strangely synth-like guitar overlay and urgent, demanding tempo. It is a rousing call to arms, a thundering seizing of attention. Its lyrical imagery of hellish and divine clashes are mirrored in the rise-and-fall structure of this track, dipping to rhythmic choral elements and then stirring itself back up into the frenzied tunnel of sound that creates such a rich setting and atmosphere for the music to sweep through.
If ‘Firebringer’ is the villain’s appearance, then ‘Crossroads Inn’ seems a mid-adventure break; an almost bardlike foray into tavern-inspired sound. Long instrumental sections and almost-imperceptible voices under the melody and metal create a fantasy inn atmosphere, as do the technical inclusions of call-and-response style vocal sections and the thudding drums. It is reminiscent of a bristling fantasy tavern with impassioned conversations and banging of tankards on tables. Rosselini is unmistakably leading listeners on a roving, sprawling journey here- not only in this respite from the fury of the earlier tracks, but in the lyrical descriptions of the setting and the promise of adventure and duty. Managing to elevate this with quintessential elements of power metal is a masterclass in the balancing act that ‘Of War and Flames’ walks on, the duality between creativity and discipline.
The album’s sound takes on an almost ethereal, slightly gothic sound on ‘Shadowsong’, with compressed operatic vocals sitting tight atop hollow-sounding guitars. They cut cold underneath Rosselini’s vocals- writhing and almost tortured in their spooky intensity, and are again allowed to run free towards the end of the track to sprawl open into gritty riffs and thunderous bass. Layered vocals and tight composition has been the driving style of this album, and ‘Shadowsong’ makes use of this in a freshly haunting, darker manner. Not only does it enrich the sound of the album and prove that Alterium have any tone at their disposal, but illustrates again the depth of the lore and concepts that the album stands upon and journeys through.
‘Shadowsong’ heralds a more subdued, pensive tone for the following tracks ‘Crystalline’ and ‘Heroine of The Sea’, representing struggles in the hero’s story, possibly, or suffering in the path of the adventure. ‘Crystalline’ is almost a ballad in its beginning; muted and subdued guitars highlighting around the pensive edges of Rossellini’s vocal lamentations. There is a transportive slow quietness to this track, an emotional softness streaked through with pain.
Empowering emotional vocal sequences by interspersing them with the chunky guitars and elevating bass elements allows the track to swell to its peak- a louder, more metallic sound again overlayed with thin pianos to maintain the dreamlike quality of this track. Ungoverned, free-formed, it flows straight into ‘Heroine of The Sea’ (track 8) with its darkly theatrical, operatic opening and lyrical themes of feminine suffering and rage. Hollow, almost drowned-sounding guitars and an unexpectedly jaunty chorus give the track a pirate-metal sound, another fresh edge to Alterium’s display of potential directions in which to take their sound. Combining these almost pirate-metal techniques with the impassioned feminine rage of the vocals gives a really interesting, fresh-sounding outcome, and adds even further to the richness of the album and its concepts.
Not counting the cover of Sabaton’s ‘Bismarck’, which is similarly well-executed, interesting to hear with female vocals and retains all the innate power of the original, closing track ‘Chasing The Sun’, is a rousing and confident end to the tale that Alterium have been weaving across all their previous tracks. This final track is heavier than the others; a final hurrah of dirty, distorted guitars and incessant war-beating of drums. The track is like a battlefield, layered so richly as to be almost impenetrable, with Rosselini’s vocals searching high and low for cracks or safety. The conceptual ending of the album seems left to a listener to decide- to ponder the dualities that Alterium have littered their album with and the raw power that has driven it so far already.
- ‘Of War And Flames‘ is released on Friday (8 March).
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